The New Authoritarian Left – An Imminent Threat to Democratic Society
When the left celebrates terrorism
It pretends to be progressive, but ever since Hamas’s attack on Israel, it has become increasingly anti-democratic: This is the new authoritarian left. Dogmatic and zealous, it reinterprets radical Islamic terrorist violence as decolonial resistance. It is quick to accept the propaganda and disinformation spread by autocratic regimes or dubious sources within ‘alternative media’. Anybody with a dissenting opinion is rapidly labelled as the enemy, while its advocates whip up hatred of the press – sometimes even calling for murder. Drawing on investigative research as well as his own experiences, journalist Nicholas Potter offers an insight into the inner workings of the movement in Germany. He also looks at the US and Great Britain, where similarly radical tendencies are emerging. Potter deftly lays out the network of the new authoritarian left, revealing how it operates, and asking: Are we, as a democratic society, ready for what’s coming?
- Alarming: the ever-increasing radicalisation of the left
- Shadowy masterminds, networks, factions and platforms: how violence develops
- Our democracy and freedom of the press are at stake
Nicholas Potter, born in the UK in 1990, is a journalist and editor for the taz. His articles on topics such as right-wing extremism and antisemitism have also appeared in newspapers including the Tagesspiegel and the Jüdische Allgemeine, as well as in the Guardian and Haaretz. In 2024, he was nominated for the Theodor Wolff Prize.
