The Ideological Evolution of Horst Mahler

The Far Left–Extreme Right Synthesis

Bibliographic Data

ID12407045
AuthorsGeorge Michael (0000-0002-2724-0958, University of Virginia's College at Wise, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume32
Issue4
Pages346-366
Publication date2009-03-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Conflict and Terrorism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1057-610X • E-ISSN: 1521-0731
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10576100902743997
OpenAlexW2079331024
LanguageEN
Citations received1

In the late 1990s, Horst Mahler, a former leader of the Red Army Faction and scion of the radical left, announced his affinity for the extreme right and joined the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands; NPD)—Germany's principal far right party. Later distancing himself from party politics, he founded the Deutsches Kolleg, a far right think tank that promotes German nationalism. Although ostensibly now a rightist, Mahler has synthesized much of his original left-wing ideology into a far right Weltanschauung that features nationalism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism, with a strident critique of capitalism. As such, it has the potential to appeal to some segments of the contemporary anti-globalization movement, the international extreme right, and even Islamists

Appeal · Capitalism · Communism · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Democracy · Distancing · Extreme right · German · Ideology · Left and right · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Socialism · Sociology · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · German legal, social, and political studies · Law · Philosophy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Religious studies

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