Pegida

Understanding the Emergence and Essence of Nativist Protest in Dresden

Bibliographic Data

ID3639747
AuthorsFabian Virchow (0000-0002-5995-5472, Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume37
Issue6
Pages541-555
Publication date2016-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Intercultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0725-6868 • E-ISSN: 1469-9540
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07256868.2016.1235026
OpenAlexW2541571025
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited27

Surprisingly to many observers in Germany from fall 2014 onwards, several public protests were organised that turned against fundamentalist currents of Islam. A demonstration of a group that called itself Hooligans against Salafists (HoGeSa) received great public attention; another group using the abbreviation Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the Occident (PEGIDA) proved able to initiate a very dynamic mobilisation within a few weeks: from a few hundred to more than 20,000 participants in weekly marches in Dresden. Surveys show that a significant portion of the German population holds Islamophobic stereotypes. Yet, until the appearance of HoGeSa and PEGIDA there had been no expression of these attitudes in public protest of any relevant kind. While growing in numbers week by week in Dresden, attempts were made to organise similar rallies in many other German cities. By and large these attempts, however, were not successful which raises the question of the causes and conditions that allow nativist mass mobilisation in Dresden but not in other cities. This paper portrays the emergence and development of PEGIDA and like groups and discusses the particular political culture in Dresden and Saxony that is the most important factor to explaining the PEGIDA phenomenon

German · Islam · Media studies · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Demography · German legal, social, and political studies · History · Law · Religion, Theology, and Education · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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