• “… Workers are among the occupational groups that support the AfD particularly strongly. (…) For some time now, political party researchers have been debating whether the AfD’s remarkable success makes it a new workers’ party. It is largely undisputed that its platform cannot necessarily be described as worker-friendly. The fact that it is nonetheless more successful than average among workers is attributed, among other things, to the way it taps into dissatisfaction and protest. (…) Working conditions have a direct influence on political decision-making. The study suggests that dissatisfaction with working life leads to a shift toward parties that promise radical change, as is the case with the AfD …” Article by Bernd Müller dated December 3, 2023, in Telepolis (“Why Are More and More Workers in Germany Voting for the AfD?”) on the WSI study of AfD voters—see more on this and the topic:
  • [“Trade Union Council” and “Megazoom” organized by the Workers Against Fascism initiative] Not Everyone Is on the Right New “A
    few days after the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, in which six out of ten workers voted for the AfD, more than 140 trade unionists, works council members, and employees gathered for the “Megazoom” organized by the Workers Against Fascism initiative. Colleagues from a wide variety of industries: healthcare, logistics, media, education, and academia.
    What began as an idea from a Berlin intensive care nurse is taking shape: From January 22 to 24, 2027 , a nationwide conference under the motto “Understand, Network, Agree” is scheduled to take place in Halle (Saale) —that is, in Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD won the most votes. Mobilization is taking place without significant financial resources, through personal and collegial networks within workplaces—and this is precisely where the organizers see their greatest strength.
    Two meetings within one week
     As early as September 8, two days before the Megazoom, 114 female colleagues had gathered for what has now become the second “Trade Union Council Meeting.” Under the title “Defend the Welfare State—Make the Rich Pay,” the discussion focused on the social protests, with reports from a ver.di union representative and a works council member on the mobilization efforts within workplaces. (…)
    Various industries were represented here as well: A sports therapist from Berlin moderated the video conference, while an intensive care nurse, a colleague from Berlin’s municipal sanitation department, and a works council member from Lufthansa’s ground crew introduced themselves as the organizers. “We are the ones who keep this country running,” the colleague from the municipal sanitation department summed it up. “If we fight back, no one can stop us.”
    A colleague who has long studied the AfD provided scholarly input to “Workers Against Fascism,” which now counts more than 500 colleagues on its information channel. At the heart of the discussion is the “AfD paradox”: above-average support among working-class women for a platform that runs counter to their interests—a situation exacerbated by the fact that many are actually aware of this.
    The AfD capitalizes on the myth of the “hard-working population,” positioning itself as the party of the “high achievers,” while simultaneously stigmatizing recipients of social benefits: 66 percent of female AfD voters view receiving a basic income as a “comfortable life at the expense of society.” Furthermore, the party is openly hostile toward the organized labor movement.
    One potential point of attack against the AfD is its campaign against “foreign-born skilled workers,” which targets so many colleagues without whom businesses in the care and logistics sectors would grind to a halt. The speaker’s assessment: The crisis of legitimacy in the party-state has its epicenter in the working class. The answer must be democratic self-efficacy in the workplace: solidarity, change, and the ability to take action. (…)
    There was also criticism of the unions themselves: A colleague from ver.di lamented passive structures and appealed to the top officials: “If things continue this way, you won’t exist in two years.” And a suggestion came from the chat to also make the campaign against dismissals on suspicion—as a legacy of Nazi labor law—a focus of antifascist workplace group work.
    The conference in Halle also serves as a kickoff ahead of next year’s elections: workshops on understanding the dynamics of the crisis, networking between workplaces—including against the fascist “Zentrum” organization—and concrete agreements on actions.     ..” Article by Gerhard Klas from September 12, 2026, in SoZ Online externer Link , see also:
  • “My buddy votes for the AfD”: The AfD is courting the “everyday people” and winning over working-class voters—despite having recently adopted even more extreme free-market policies
  • The Importance of Work: Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild helps us understand why people vote for the right—and what that means for anti-fascist strategies . “Economist
     Isabella M. Weber has a clear answer to the question of why Donald Trump won the 2024 election against Kamala Harris: ‘Unemployment weakens governments. Inflation kills them.” The Biden administration, she argues, failed to take timely action against rising prices. Accordingly, Weber advocates for statutory rent caps and price controls, as well as for a state-directed, green reindustrialization. She calls this “anti-fascist economic policy.” Her line of argument is reminiscent of a slogan launched by Bill Clinton’s camp during the 1992 presidential campaign: “It’s the economy, stupid.” So it’s all about the economy. (…) In her book *Stolen Pride*, published in German in September 2025, she discusses why poor, white rural voters support Trump, even though his policies so clearly favor the wealthiest in the country. In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, she traveled repeatedly from her home in Berkeley—that university town in California known across the country since the 1960s as a bastion of left-wing activism and counterculture—to the second-poorest congressional district in the U.S. Here, in eastern Kentucky, almost everyone is white and devoutly Christian. And here, in the last three presidential elections, over 80 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots for Trump. (…)
    Among Trump’s supporters, Hochschild suggests, anger over rising prices is linked to a general sense of decline. In eastern Kentucky, this sentiment is fueled by upheavals in the labor market associated with the economic decline of the mining industry. According to Hochschild, in 1990 the coal industry still employed approximately 30,000 people statewide; by 2020, that number had fallen to just under 4,000. However, the raw numbers obscure the fact that work is by no means merely a source of income—that is, an economic activity in the narrow sense. According to Hochschild, work is also embedded in people’s lived worlds, structures them, and is linked to social interpretations, values, and emotions. The decline of industrial sectors and the accompanying loss of jobs also result in the loss of these lived worlds, which in turn evokes a specific repertoire of negative emotions. (…)
    According to Hochschild, Donald Trump—a political figure who embodies utter shamelessness—allows his supporters to shake off their shame. He transforms it into a sense of having been betrayed and robbed, and thus into hatred and racism. In doing so, he employs a political technique that Hochschild calls an “anti-shame ritual”: He provokes with hate speech, is shamed by his opponents for it, portrays himself as their victim, and then switches to the offensive to exact retribution. (…)
    American anti-fascists are thus faced with the task of proactively addressing issues of income and the Trump regime’s responsibility for the rising cost of living. It is to be hoped that in doing so, they do not forget to also acknowledge the economic and social significance of workers’ contributions—whether in paid labor or unpaid reproductive labor— to affirm that their efforts are recognized. Zohran Mamdani made this a central theme of his campaign in New York City last fall and was very successful in doing so.”     Review by Alexander Gallas, June 17, 2026, in Neues Deutschland online externer Link by:
  • Study: Social Decline Contributes to Support for Right-Wing Populists. According to Researchers, However , “Xenophobia” Plays Only a Minor Role “According to
    a study, people who are in a worse professional position than their parents vote for right-wing populist parties significantly more often, regardless of income. Data from 89,000 respondents across eleven Western democracies, including Germany, were analyzed over a period of nearly two decades, as the Hertie School announced Thursday in Berlin. The results were evaluated in collaboration with the University of British Columbia. According to study co-author Mark Kayser of the Hertie School, 12 percent of people who are significantly less successful than their parents voted for a right-wing populist party. That is more than twice as many as among those who have moved up the social ladder (4.6 percent). However, social mobility has little impact on voting behavior. This means that a loss of status is politically far more influential than a gain in status. (…) The study also shows that while people who have experienced social decline have less trust in politicians and are less satisfied with democracy, they do not develop stronger xenophobia or resentment toward refugees. “This contradicts common clichés about the motives of right-wing populist voters,” said Kayser. Above all, it is the loss of social status—and not merely economic hardship or cultural resentment—that leads to support for right-wing populist parties. “This helps explain why these parties have gained so much traction in such diverse countries and social groups,” said the professor of comparative political science: “Those who fall tend to feel let down by the political system and look for alternatives,” said Kayser.” Article from August 17, 2025, in MiGAZIN externer Link on the study externer Link “Downward Mobility and Far-Right Party Support: Broad Evidence” by Alan M. Jacobs and Mark A. Kayser