The AfD, Pegida, and Ethnopluralism in Eastern Germany

Since its founding in 2013 as a conservative party opposed to Germany's policies during the Eurocrisis, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has moved to the farright and, like the populist movement Pegida which shares many of the same goals, has increasingly become a nativist, xenophobic party. While scholars have analyzed their anti-immigrant and nationalist platform, this article examines their call for an ethnopluralist nation-state. Both the AfD and Pegida claim they are not racist nor are calling for an ethnonationalist state (Germany for the Germans), but what they are advocating for is an organicist state that rejects multiculturalism and religious plurality.