Across East Germany, where political allegiances are shifting to the right, the wolf is increasingly seen as a trespasser and threat to the local way of life. Yet the wolf remains a protected species by law, as are the rights of many migrant communities, who, like the wolf are seen as invaders and predators, undeserving of protection and viewed with similar hostility. To many people in East Germany, the immigrant and the wolf are an indistinguishable problem that nobody in power is doing anything about.
As nationalist parties are on the rise across Europe, The wolves are coming back offers an insight into the rise of East German fringe political movements and agitation against both immigrants and wolves by hunters, farmers, rioters and self-appointed saviours of the nation. The nationalist Alternative for Germany represents the third-largest party in the German federal parliament, with representation in the vast majority of German states. They draw much of their support from the 'post-traumatic places' in Eastern Germany, regions structured by realities of disownment, disenfranchisement, and a lack of democratic infrastructure. Pates and Leser provide an account of the societal roots of a new group of radical right parties, whose existence and success we always assumed to be impossible. -- .
