Drivers of radicalisation? The development and role of the far-right youth organisation ‘Young Alternative’ in Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID6299202
AuthorsAnna-Sophie Heinze (0000-0001-5739-191X, Universität Trier, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume46
Issue1
Pages108-124
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0192-5121 • E-ISSN: 1460-373X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/01925121231221961
OpenAlexW4391388924
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited36

Today, many far-right parties maintain youth wings, providing opportunities to mobilise members and future party leaders. However, they are often neglected in the study of the far right’s organisation. This article explores the development of the ‘Young Alternative’ and its ambivalent relationship with the ‘Alternative for Germany’. Theoretically, it argues that far-right youth wings can act as important drivers of radicalisation. It also tries to understand conflicts between far-right youth organisations and parties by discussing the interactions between organisational development and radicalisation. Empirically, it opens the ‘black box’ of the German case by drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources, including semi-structured interviews with high-ranking ‘Young Alternative’ members, (social) media communication and official documents of the ‘Young Alternative’, ‘Alternative for Germany’ and intelligence services. Overall, the article underlines the importance of far-right youth wings as part of the broader party organisation and offers substantial theoretical and empirical research perspectives

Criminology · Far right · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Law · Psychology

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