Young perspectives on the shift to the right: German-Polish seminar on radical right-wing parties

"Young people almost everywhere are worried about their future. This is an important reason why they are more open to more radical positions." This realisation is not new to Marcin Gołębiewski, a political science student at the University of Warsaw, but the underlying reasons are. During a group project with other students, he found out: "We looked at the fears and complaints of young people and analysed what is important to them with regard to their future. These are essentially their employment status, their housing situation and economic stability." He discussed the details of how the results differ in Poland and Germany in detail with his group.

Analysing age group, election programmes and media

The starting point for the students was their own age group. They examined the election results of 18 to 29-year-olds in Germany and Poland as well as the election programmes and social media presence of the AfD and Konfederacja. Where are similarities and where are differences in the neighbouring EU countries? "The students were asked to investigate various questions using a factor analysis," says Dr Anja Hennig, a political scientist at the Viadrina. For example, the question to which extent it plays a role that some young people in both countries do not feel represented by established parties.

The use of social media also influences the voting decisions of young people in both countries. For example, the students found that the presentation of election campaign topics - such as family, migration and economic policy - is directly related to a young target group. The radical right-wing parties disseminate their content in videos on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok, which are used by many young people.

At the kick-off workshop in Warsaw in October, the students and Dr Anja Hennig and their colleague Prof Dr Wojciech Gagatek (University of Warsaw) - a former guest professor at the Viadrina - delved into the basics of right-wing radicalism research. "We already dealt with the 2023 parliamentary elections in Poland in a seminar in 2023, and this seminar follows that in terms of its didactic structure," says Hennig. However, the focus back then was on analysing how German parties and the media reacted to the results in Poland. The mix of students, however, also pointed out the European context.

Comparing countries in a European context

"I see that there are populist forces on a continental level, especially on the right, which is very worrying," says Jana Bracharz, a student in the European Studies Master's programme at the Viadrina. "From my point of view, this is very exciting, because this development has also progressed in France." The student originally comes from Strasbourg. She is now studying in the double Master's programme at the Viadrina. "It's interesting to have the Polish perspective, because with the PIS government we've seen how fragile democracy really is. It is therefore very useful to study with Polish students who are actually experiencing this. Together we can discuss how we can respond to these democratic challenges - from a European position."

Her fellow student Léopold Mille, also a student in the European Studies double master's programme at the Viadrina, also sees this connection.

The points that they discovered in the seminar also exist to a certain extent in France. "It's about working on them together and seeing where our differences and similarities lie," says Léopold Mille.

The physical distance between the countries played less of a role in the seminar. After the first meeting in Warsaw, which also served to get to know each other, five meetings took place online. The reunion on the Oder enabled the students to explore not only the Viadrina, but also the twin city of Frankfurt (Oder)-Słubice. Action artist Michael Kurzwelly showed them that borders can also disappear with his project "Slubfurt" - a fictitious city consisting of Słubice and Frankfurt (Oder). And perhaps it will also be visible in the topic analysed by the students: tackling political challenges across borders.

The seminar is financially supported by the Foundation for German-Polish Cooperation.