display
Among the supporters of the "lateral thinkers" movement are particularly many voters from the AfD, the Greens and the Left Party.
This is the conclusion of a study by the sociologist Oliver Nachtwey from the University of Basel, on which the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reports.
“In the last general election,” Nachtwey told the FAZ, “according to our survey, 21 percent voted for the Greens and 17 percent for the Left.
The AfD gave 14 percent their vote.
In the next general election, 30 percent of the AfD want to vote. "
The study is based on surveys in "lateral thinkers" Telegram groups;
the scientists evaluated 1,150 questionnaires that they had sent to members of these Telegram groups.
The study is therefore not representative, also because more than 100,000 so-called “lateral thinkers” are registered in these chat groups.
The authors speak of a descriptive statistical analysis.
According to Oliver Nachtwey, the new movement is characterized by its alienation from the institutions of the political system, the established media and the old popular parties.
“It is a movement that comes more from the left, but goes more to the right, but it is enormously contradictory.” In terms of social structure, it is a relatively old and relatively academic movement.
The average age is 47 years, 31 percent have a high school diploma, 34 percent have a university degree, the proportion of self-employed is significantly higher than in the general population.
display
Anti-Semitic prejudices are also typical of the movement, they are part of some conspiracy theories.
Authoritarian thinking, xenophobia or the trivialization of National Socialism are less common among supporters of the movement, said Nachtwey.
Contrary to what was sometimes claimed in the public debate, church or even pietistic attitudes played a subordinate role, said the sociologist.
Instead, many “lateral thinkers” who denied the dangers of Sars-Cov-2 are characterized by a pronounced tendency towards natural romanticism: 41 of those surveyed trust their “feelings more than institutions and experts”, and there is a strong desire for conventional medicine and alternative medicine Treating healing methods in the same way is also typical of the belief in the self-healing powers of the body and the desire for “spiritual thinking”.
The researchers fear that the movement that is currently criticizing the political measures to contain the pandemic could develop into a powerful vaccination-critical movement in the next few months.
The interior ministers of several federal states come to partially different assessments than the study authors.
The interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul (CDU), recently told the WDR that during the demonstrations by the “lateral thinkers”, supporters from the right-wing extremist scene were increasingly involved.
On average, around a third of the participants in such demos can be attributed to the right-wing extremist scene.
display
However, their share varies depending on the demonstration.
It is a minority, but it will.
“Above all, it has public influence.
It determines more and more the public image of these demonstrations, ”said Reul.
The participants with real concerns gave right-wing extremists space, attention and media coverage.
It is difficult for the police to deal with it properly.
The Interior Minister of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius (SPD), urged a swift decision on Friday whether the "lateral thinkers" should be observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Before the autumn meeting of the Interior Ministers' Conference (IMK) next week, at which Pistorius is the spokesman for the SPD ministers, he demanded decisive and quick action: "The current, apparent infiltration by right-wing extremists cannot leave us indifferent," said Pistorius to the "Tagesspiegel" ".
"With the citizens of the Reich and the Identitarian Movement, it took me far too long."