Eco-fascism and political ecologies of the far-right in Germany

德国的生态法西斯主义和极右翼的政治生态

• 批准号: 2488357
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2488357
• 关键词: Eco; fascism; political; ecologies; far

This project explores the relationship between nature and the far-right through a study of the eco-fascist volkisch settlements in Germany. Eco-fascism combines an intense care for ecological issues with narratives of racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia. Eco-fascism is seeing a global resurgence, as ecological breakdown(s) and proliferating far-right movements intersect. Recent terrorist attacks in Christchurch and El Paso, justified by eco-fascist manifestos, make understanding this political response to ecological and societal uncertainty increasingly urgent. To this end, this research aims to investigate how nature is mobilised as a basis for eco-fascist politics, and how this can be prevented. The recent growth of volkisch (ethno-nationalist) settlements in Germany offers a case study of eco-fascism in practice. Increasingly common in north-east and central Germany, these settlements constitute a rare opportunity to explore how eco-fascism is manifested in place, rather than simply in discourses or representations. Previous journalism has documented interesting features of these settlements: their pagan and animist worship practices, patriarchal social structures, organic diets, and emulation of 1920s volkisch -environmentalist groups. A geographical approach can move beyond this limited (though valuable) indexing of the settlements' characteristics to explain how certain spaces and landscapes become susceptible to volkisch, eco-fascist interpretations. The literatures selected here are well placed to explain how this ideology of race, society and nature, and accompanying calls to retreat to the land in uncertain times, are articulated through space. To address these issues, I enrol several bodies of geographical literature. The first, 'Political ecologies of the far-right', is concerned with how far-right movements imagine, organise around, and act upon nature. This will inform my focus on the different imaginations of nature by the German far-right in the past and present. The second, 'Post-foundational political theory', maintains that there is no ultimate basis for social life (e.g. a social contract or divine authority), and explores the ways in which 'contingent foundations' for society are continuously re-made. I use this literature to explore how ideas of nature are invoked to serve as foundations for the social structures of the volkisch settlements. My third body of literature, 'More-than-human geographies', explores the role of non-human actors (plants, animals, landscapes) in co-producing human activity. Given the prominence of ideas of nature in the volkisch universe (from animist and pagan spirituality to a reverence for the German landscape as a source of ethnic energies), more-than-human theory will be a useful tool for unpacking the influence of nature in animating, shaping, and grounding volkisch politics.The project will therefore implement several research methods, the first of which is archival analysis. Using collections on historical environmental movements at the Bundesarchiv Berlin, I will analyse scholarship and propaganda produced by volkisch-environmentalist groups such as the Wanderwogel in Germany. This will assist in historicising the role of nature as a foundation for volkisch politics. In the process, I will also collect contemporary materials published by volkisch groups, ranging from far-right environmental magazines such as Umwelt&Aktiv, to online forums such as volkisch Paganism. My discourse analysis of these materials will focus on how imaginaries of nature attract people to certain political positions, and inspire real-world action. Finally, I will conduct walking interviews with people associated with the volkisch settlements (but strictly avoiding anyone actively involved in the communities), focusing on how they relate to different landscapes, and the strategies they use to fuse nature and politics together.

这个项目通过对德国生态法西斯主义的volkisch定居点的研究，探索自然与极右翼之间的关系。生态法西斯主义将对生态问题的强烈关注与种族主义，反犹太主义和伊斯兰恐惧症的叙述相结合。随着生态崩溃和极右翼运动的蔓延，生态法西斯主义正在全球范围内死灰复燃。最近在基督城和埃尔帕索发生的恐怖袭击，以生态法西斯主义宣言为借口，使理解这种对生态和社会不确定性的政治反应变得越来越紧迫。为此，本研究旨在调查自然是如何被动员起来作为生态法西斯主义政治的基础，以及如何防止这种情况。最近在德国发展的民族主义定居点为生态法西斯主义的实践提供了一个案例研究。这些定居点在德国东北部和中部越来越常见，它们构成了一个难得的机会，可以探索生态法西斯主义是如何在当地表现出来的，而不仅仅是在话语或陈述中。以前的新闻记录了这些定居点的有趣特征：他们的异教徒和万物有灵崇拜习俗，父权制的社会结构，有机饮食，以及对20世纪20年代volkisch环保团体的模仿。地理学的方法可以超越这种有限的（尽管很有价值的）定居点特征索引，解释某些空间和景观如何变得容易受到volkisch，生态法西斯主义解释的影响。这里所选的文献很好地解释了这种种族、社会和自然的意识形态，以及伴随而来的在不确定的时代撤退到土地上的呼吁，是如何通过空间表达的。为了解决这些问题，我加入了几个地理文学机构。第一个是“极右翼的政治生态”，关注极右翼运动如何想象，组织起来，并对自然采取行动。这将使我关注德国极右翼在过去和现在对自然的不同想象。第二种是“后基础政治理论”，认为社会生活没有终极基础（例如社会契约或神权），并探讨了社会的“偶然基础”不断被重新构建的方式。我用这些文献来探讨自然的想法是如何被调用作为volkisch定居点的社会结构的基础。我的第三个文学作品，“比人类更多的地理学”，探讨了非人类行为者（植物，动物，景观）在共同生产人类活动中的作用。鉴于自然观念在民族主义宇宙中的突出地位（从万物有灵论和异教精神到对德国景观作为民族能量来源的崇敬），超越人类的理论将是一个有用的工具，可以解开自然在激发、塑造和奠定民族主义政治方面的影响。因此，该项目将实施几种研究方法，其中第一种是档案分析。我将利用柏林联邦档案馆收集的历史环境运动，分析由诸如德国的Wanderwogel等民族环保主义团体所产生的学术和宣传。这将有助于将自然作为人民政治基础的作用历史化。在这个过程中，我也将收集volkisch团体出版的当代材料，从极右翼的环境杂志，如Umwelt&Aktiv，到在线论坛，如volkisch Paganism。我对这些材料的话语分析将集中在自然界的物质如何吸引人们到某些政治立场，并激发现实世界的行动。最后，我将对与volkisch定居点有关的人进行步行采访（但严格避免任何积极参与社区的人），重点是他们如何与不同的景观联系起来，以及他们将自然和政治融合在一起的策略。