The Ideological Evolution of Horst Mahler: The Far Left-Extreme Right Synthesis

Author: Michael, George

Source: Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Volume 32, Number 4, April 2009 , pp. 346-366(21)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

In the late 1990s, Horst Mahler, a former leader of the Red Army Faction and scion of the radical left, announced his affinity for the extreme right and joined the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands; NPD)—Germany's principal far right party. Later distancing himself from party politics, he founded the Deutsches Kolleg, a far right think tank that promotes German nationalism. Although ostensibly now a rightist, Mahler has synthesized much of his original left-wing ideology into a far right Weltanschauung that features nationalism, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism, with a strident critique of capitalism. As such, it has the potential to appeal to some segments of the contemporary anti-globalization movement, the international extreme right, and even Islamists.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10576100902743997

Affiliations: 1: University of Virginia—Wise, Wise, VA, USA

Publication date: 2009-04-01

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