korrents

korrents · piece

Chartbook 473 Germany’s democratic earthquake: the AfD breakthrough in Sachsen-Anhalt and the question of an “alternative to the Alternative”.

Adam Tooze · 7 Sept 2026 · adamtooze.substack.com ↗

3 korrents from this piece

Adam Tooze did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    Support for populist right-wing parties is driven more by rejection of the status quo and anti-immigrant sentiment than by demand for economic redistribution.

    Their wordsVoting for the AfD in the current landscape, whatever your economic issues, in short, is not a vote to have your economic issues addressed by social democracy, or welfare or government intervention.

  2. Our reading

    Countering the far right requires addressing voters' desire for an outsider identity, not just their economic grievances.

    Their wordsTo my mind, if progressive policy hopes to engage with such voters at all - and it is open question whether it should - it must address not just the material realities of relative economic disadvantage, but above all the "outsider" credentials of the AfD.

  3. Our reading

    Publicly embracing a taboo, extremist identity can function as a costly signal that builds political authenticity and loyalty.

    Their wordsPeople who act and speak in public as right-wing extremists and are labeled as such, establish a claim to authenticity.