"From Blut und Boden to Climate Scepticism: The Trajectory of Far-Right Environmental Thought (2013-2025)"

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore the evolution of ecofascism in Germany and beyond and examine its influence on modern far-right environmentalism. It will investigate how contemporary far-right populists, specifically the AfD, utilize and reframe environmental issues to serve their electoral interests and whether that makes the AfD fit within the legacy of ecofascism. Lastly, it will investigate how public opinion on environmental issues relates to voting behaviour. The results indicated that far-right environmentalism has roots in ecofascism and has come to involve not only regional pro-environmental aspects, but also global anti-climate issues (meaning the positioning against mitigation of global climate change but pleading for protection of the local environment/biosphere). Furthermore, the AfD has characteristics of ecofascism – such as care for nature, connection to the land, ethnic separatism and anti-globalism – but cannot fully be classified as such. The anti-climate framing of the AfD has proved successful to people who have low climate concern to begin with, but pro-environment framing seems not to be a decisive factor in voting for the AfD to people who are significantly concerned about the climate. Lastly, while there is a correlation visible between low climate concern and high shares of electoral support for the AfD (especially in East Germany), there seems to be no significant causal relation. Instead, other factors, such as economic grievances and anti-immigration sentiment, are most likely more decisive in explaining the rise of the far-right in Germany (2013-2025).