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Paper short abstract

An ethnographic study of three East German pro-democratic civil society initiatives amid democratic backsliding and rising authoritarianism. Focusing on former socialist regions, it examines their practices, challenges, and what they reveal about current political struggles in Germany and beyond.

Paper long abstract

As in many other parts of the world, Germany is currently facing a process of “democratic backsliding” and “new authoritarianism,” with far-right political forces on the rise and increasingly seeking to abolish liberal democracy. This trend is especially evident in the formerly socialist East German regions, where right-wing extremism and hostility toward democracy are particularly widespread.

At the same time, a vibrant and diverse organized democratic civil society has emerged in both West and East Germany over recent decades, working to promote universal human rights, political participation, and the rejection of “ideologies of inequivalence.” After years of structural growth and favorable funding conditions, such initiatives are now confronted with budget cuts, dwindling political support, and increasing violence and intimidation.

My contribution presents an ethnographic study of three German pro-democratic civil society initiatives—the “Cultural Office Saxony,” the “Anne Frank Center,” and the “Grannies against the Right”—conducted in autumn 2024. During this period, a convergence of crucial sociopolitical events and developments took place in which the struggle to preserve democracy became particularly pronounced, with East German civil society finding itself at the center of these disputes.

Using a conjunctural analysis approach, the paper examines the current methods and strategies of East German democratic civil society initiatives, the challenges and threats they face, and their involvement in urgent processes of social negotiation. One of the central paradoxes for their representatives is that they are required to defend something with which they themselves are often not content: the present state of liberal democracy.