RevDem Podcast · Review of Democracy

An Authoritarian Turn in Contemporary Germany? – In Conversation with Robin Celikates

·27 min·1 clip

Zelikates says German authoritarianism now comes from both the far right and the political center.

1. RevDem Podcast’s "An Authoritarian Turn in Contemporary Germany? – In Conversation with Robin Celikates" focuses on authoritarian trends, anti-Semitism, and the German state. 2. Robin Zillikates, professor of social philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin, is the guest whose analysis connects legal debates, protest policing, and racism. 3. The episode asks whether Germany is already in an authoritarian turn and why the answer cannot be reduced to the AfD alone. 4. Zillikates says anti-Semitism has been massively expanded as a category and "emptied out of a content" with a real-world equivalent. 5. He argues that the public debate in Germany increasingly treats anti-Semitism as imported through migration rather than as something still present among Germans. 6. He says this displacement is tied to racist and ethno-nationalist discourse about "imported anti-Semitism." 7. He also says the definition of anti-Semitism has shifted toward "Israel-related antisemitism" in Germany and the United States. 8. He cites slogans such as "from the river to the sea" and "end the genocide" as examples that have been treated as hate crimes. 9. He mentions a case in which a protester holding a sign reading "have we not learned from the Holocaust" was charged and sentenced for incitement to hatred. 10. He says this framework can turn the German state and even the police into the implied victims of anti-Semitism. 11. Zillikates links this to a broader authoritarian project that uses anti-Semitism to justify restricting fundamental rights. 12. He says non-Jewish Germans increasingly feel authorized to tell Jews what positions to hold and whether they are anti-Semitic. 13. He argues that this process drives a wedge inside Jewish communities by separating "good Jews" from "bad Jews." 14. He says the AfD openly promotes ethnic exclusion, deportation, and citizenship stripping while presenting itself as pro-Israel. 15. He says CDU politics, plus parts of the SPD and Green Party, have mainstreamed similar anti-migrant and anti-refugee positions. 16. He frames fascism as "fascization" or process, citing Alberto Toscano and the early Frankfurt School. 17. The conversation is analytic and argumentative, with long responses and direct challenges from the interviewer. 18. The tone is academic but pointed, with repeated references to Germany, the US, Hungary, and the UK. 19. Listeners interested in German politics, anti-Semitism debates, and authoritarianism will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting light commentary or a non-political interview may skip it.

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