ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impacts of a social negative event on a European urban destination. More specifically, it interrogates the economic, social and cultural impacts of the far-right political movement, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA), on Dresden, which suffers from a social conflict among its residents. Although the political outcomes of progressive social movements have been widely examined, the impacts of populist political movements on urban living environments and tourism remain under-examined. The social conflict that was caused by the negative event is examined through ethnographic narrative accounts of stakeholders in Dresden, with the aim to assess the stakeholders’ positions and roles in this conflict. The resulting stories reveal the intrinsic relations between social movement and conflict. The study identifies the social tension, community polarization and discrimination against minorities as the consequences of social conflict triggered by the PEGIDA activities in Dresden, concluding with recommendations for policy on social conflict resolution and destination governance.
