“Us” and “them”: collective identity-building of far-right movements in Chemnitz and “Querdenken”

TL;DR

This paper explores how far-right groups in Chemnitz and Querdenken used online communication to build collective identity by framing out-groups as enemies.

Contribution

The study reveals the role of diagnostic master frames in far-right identity-building across two German movements.

Findings

Diagnostic master frames of 'enemy' outgroups and 'crisis' are essential for collective identity-building.

These frames indicate shared knowledge across the two far-right discursive events.

Prognostic and motivational frames were largely absent in the analyzed communication.

Abstract

Far-right actors successfully mobilized supporters for protests in the city of Chemnitz, Germany, in the summer of 2018, triggered by the fatal stabbing of a German national and the subsequent arrest of two asylum seekers. At first glance, they applied familiar enemy constructions in their online communication on the event. However, a more detailed analysis showed that these “enemies” were not targeted randomly. In this paper, I address the question of how the collective far-right actors in two German case studies—Chemnitz and “Querdenken”—framed their online communication on Facebook to foster the process of the respective social movement's collective identity-building. In particular, I focus on the role that the construction of out-groups, or “enemies” plays for their collective identity-construction. I apply frame analysis. The findings show that diagnostic master frames of “enemy” outgroups and “crisis” prove essential components; besides, diagnostic frames are more or less the only frame dimension identified. As master frames they hint to a collectively shared knowledge across the two discursive events.