ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the emergence and impact of PEGIDA, which has been the key instance of street protest during the fourth wave of far-right politics in Germany. In 2014/2015, almost a year before the ‘refugee crisis’, PEGIDA started to mobilise on the streets. For months, the protest group remained in the centre of Germany's national public debate. At its peak, the protestors regularly attracted about 20,000 sympathisers on the streets of Dresden and much less support in other cities in Germany and even abroad. This chapter analyses PEGIDA as a local phenomenon with a broader political influence. It explains the local, national, and international context behind the emergence of PEGIDA. The chapter shows that PEGIDA's national and international networking efforts were hardly successful. However, in the arena of party politics, the protest group contributed to a shift and polarisation of the political landscape from which the AfD still benefits today.
