Sociologist warns social erosion is fuelling the rightward shift

Sociologist Carolin Amlinger has warned that growing inequality and a sense of exclusion are helping fuel the rise of right-wing populist parties. In an interview with SRF, she said Switzerland was also affected by the shift to the right, despite stronger economic security and more direct democratic participation.

The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won nearly 44 percent of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, a result Amlinger said was part of a broader trend in Western democracies. She said the outcome was not a surprise, but that it had still shocked and paralysed her as both a sociologist and a private individual.

Amlinger and her research partner and husband, Oliver Nachtwey, examined Germany and the United States in their studies. Both countries, she said, had been shaped by the promise that people could advance through hard work and education. That promise had eroded, leaving society increasingly perceived as closed rather than open.

Wealth inequality and rising costs, including higher rents, have contributed to the erosion, Amlinger said. These pressures are also affecting the living standards of the middle class. As people feel their opportunities are restricted, each new group can be perceived as a threat to their own standard of living.

Migrants are often targeted, but Amlinger said the perceived threat could extend to any new group. Her research also showed that people with non-binary gender identities and women could be portrayed as threats to an established idea of a normal life. Economic insecurity is then projected onto other groups rather than explained by economic inequality, she said.

Switzerland’s system of direct democracy allows citizens to participate more actively in decision-making, which can help prevent distrust of democratic institutions, Amlinger said. The country’s prosperity also protects the middle class’s living standards more effectively. Nevertheless, she said Switzerland was experiencing the rightward shift as well.

She pointed to the growth and increased visibility of Junge Tat, a far-right organisation. Switzerland also showed that the militant right was young and male, she said.

Amlinger is leaving the University of Basel for the University of Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany. She will continue to live in Basel and commute. She said the move reflected the usual career path for academics in temporary positions, who cannot freely choose their place of work, although leaving Basel was not easy.

Amlinger is a sociologist and literary scholar who researches right-wing populism and social inequality. Together with Nachtwey, she wrote Destructive desire: Elements of democratic fascism, published by Suhrkamp in 2025. The book is based on empirical research, including detailed interviews with AfD voters and members of libertarian organisations.