Philosoph Robin Celikates über AfD, Faschismus & die Krise des Systems - Jung & Naiv: Folge 855

Summary

Robin Celikates argues that critical theory should both interpret society and help change it. It begins with basic questions about how social and political life is organized, but should remain connected to social movements, protest, and practical struggles for emancipation.

Main ideas

• Treat crises as connected, not isolated. Climate change, economic insecurity, inequality, war, migration, and social conflict may share underlying causes. Small reforms can fail when they leave those structural causes untouched.
• Ground hope in action and experience. Celikates rejects both naïve optimism and resignation. Solidarity, protest, and efforts to organize alternatives show that change is possible. People facing immediate hardship often cannot simply “give up,” and those with greater security have a responsibility to support collective efforts.
• Make universities more politically engaged and strengthen solidarity. Celikates describes German universities as often cautious, state-oriented, and socially unrepresentative. Precarious employment can discourage staff from speaking out. He argues that people should build networks across departments, institutions, employment levels, and social movements so that those under pressure are not left to respond alone.
• Treat history as a source of warnings, not a script. Past fascism does not repeat in exactly the same form, but it shows the danger of underestimating threats and assuming institutions will automatically hold. Rights and democratic gains were won through struggle and can be weakened or lost.
• Understand fascism as a process, not only as a label for a completed regime. Celikates focuses on “fascization”: the gradual erosion of democratic protections, the exclusion of minorities, growing social cruelty, and the normalization of authoritarian ideas. The key question is not just whether a party meets a strict historical definition of fascism, but which dynamics are developing and how they can be stopped.
• Recognize how scapegoating redirects anger from structural problems. In his account, economic and social crises are often blamed on already-marked minorities, such as migrants, rather than addressed at their source. Exclusion and deportation rhetoric may promise security, but will not resolve problems such as underfunded municipalities, housing shortages, or declining living standards.
• Notice how the political center can normalize far-right ideas. Celikates warns that when mainstream parties adopt the right’s definitions of problems and proposed solutions, they can make those ideas seem ordinary and strengthen the far right. A “firewall” is ineffective if political rhetoric and policy already move in the same direction.
• Scrutinize the use of antisemitism allegations as a political instrument. Celikates says antisemitism must be taken seriously, including on the left, but argues that it is sometimes framed as an imported problem or applied disproportionately to criticism of Israeli government policy. He links this to restrictions on demonstrations, academic and artistic activity, and other civil liberties, particularly in connection with Palestinian solidarity protests.
• Recognize that restrictions on rights can expand beyond their initial targets. Measures presented as necessary for security may set precedents for limiting fundamental rights more broadly. Celikates also warns that selectively applying international law and human rights weakens their credibility and makes it easier for others to dismiss them.
• Consider the effects of economic power and media ownership on democracy. Celikates highlights inequality, inherited wealth, billionaire influence, and concentrated media ownership. He argues that private media face a structural tension: they may serve public debate, but they are also privately owned and organized around profit. He also questions treating billionaire-owned social-media platforms as politically neutral infrastructure.
• Develop a positive material program in response to fascism. Criticism of the far right is not enough. Celikates calls for credible alternatives that improve people’s lives, including more equal access to housing, health, education, work, and other public goods, rather than leaving access entirely to markets and individual purchasing power.
• Remember that protest is often judged differently in hindsight. Movements that later become widely respected may initially be condemned as disruptive or too radical. Celikates uses the civil-rights movement as an example and warns against praising past protest while dismissing contemporary movements. He supports cooperation among different movements while cautioning against asking them to set aside their distinct concerns.

Practical lessons and approaches

• Analyze how crises are connected rather than treating each as a separate problem.
• Challenge scapegoating and distinguish structural causes from political rhetoric that blames minorities.
• Defend democratic rights consistently, including when the people affected are politically unpopular.
• Build durable networks and alliances so that individuals—especially precarious workers, students, and targeted groups—are not left to act alone.
• Support protest and solidarity-based organizing while recognizing that movements may use different tactics and pursue different goals.
• Offer concrete alternatives: policies that improve material conditions and make essential public goods accessible.
• Learn from historical warning signs without assuming that the present will exactly reproduce the past.

Speakers and sources

Speakers and participants

• Robin Celikates — Guest; philosopher and social theorist.
• The interviewer/host — The show’s interviewer, apparently Tilo Jung, though the subtitles do not identify him by name.
• Hans and audience/chat participants — Hans is mentioned in connection with viewer questions; the subtitles also include audience questions and reactions.

Sources, thinkers, and examples mentioned

• Critical-theory and related thinkers: Karl Marx, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Herbert Marcuse, Angela Davis, Hannah Arendt, Judith Butler, and Frantz Fanon.
• Other intellectual references: Ernst Fraenkel; Jürgen Habermas, apparently referenced in the discussion of the transformation of the public sphere, though the auto-generated subtitle mangles the name; and Eva von Redecker.
• Historical and social-movement examples: Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil-rights movement; Occupy; and protest movements including Fridays for Future.
• Organizations and institutional sources: Amnesty International; the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; and a UN Special Rapporteur whose name is unclear in the subtitles.
• Research references: Unnamed empirical studies on antisemitic attitudes and political opinion.
• Policy discussion: Isabel Weber is mentioned as a forthcoming guest and in connection with material, anti-fascist economic policy.