Tarik Abou-Chadi: SPD Did Not Lose Workers to AfD

In an interview with der Freitag, political scientist Tarik Abou-Chadi challenges common explanations for the rise of the far-right AfD in Germany. He argues that the SPD did not lose its working-class base to the AfD, contrary to popular belief. Abou-Chadi, who will become the director of a new democracy research department at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center next year, asserts that democracies are resilient despite attacks such as those seen in the US. He discusses concerned citizens, careless social democrats, and 'magical measures' against the AfD. The interview touches on the erosion of confidence in liberal democracy, which was once widely assumed to be permanent in Europe and North America.