Anti-racism | Study: One in six people protested against racism

More and more people in Germany are taking a public stance against racism. According to the current report "Committed to Racism: Potential and Practice in Germany" by the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor (NaDiRa), the proportion of those who participated in such protests has quadrupled within a year. While only four percent of respondents reported participating in protests in 2023, this figure had risen to 17 percent by mid-2024. According to the study authors, the figures are representative and based on surveys conducted by the NaDiRa panel in 2023 and 2024, with over 3,400 participants.

The main drivers of this development were the large democracy protests following Correctiv's research into "remigration" plans by right-wing extremists and AfD politicians : 84 percent of those who protested against racism stated that they had participated in one of the demonstrations against right-wing extremism in the first half of 2024. However, Tae Jun Kim, head of the NaDiRa panel at the Dezim Institute and co-author of the study, emphasized to "nd": "The changes in engagement cannot be attributed exclusively to the large demonstrations, but also reflect a broader societal trend."

Despite the increase, the potential of anti-racist engagement remains far from exhausted. 40 percent of respondents can fundamentally imagine participating in a demonstration. The discrepancies are even greater for other forms of engagement, such as online petitions (42 percent potential, 11 percent actual), donations (34 percent potential, 5 percent actual), and volunteer work (35 percent potential, 3 percent actual).

"What's interesting to us, however, is the potential movement: We see that anti-racist engagement can be activated," says Kim. "Many who could only imagine getting involved in 2023 actually became active in 2024." The researcher concludes: "Anti-racist engagement in Germany is not a static phenomenon, but extremely dynamic."

The study authors also examined in more detail what characterizes people who are committed to fighting racism. They found that people who classify themselves as left-wing, have higher educational qualifications, or have immigrant friends are more likely to take part. Whether they have experienced racism themselves plays a minor role in their engagement. A 2024 Dezim survey showed that both people with and without their own experiences of racism are more likely to participate in protests if they were told about the racist experiences of others.

But taking to the streets against right-wing extremism is one thing, but becoming permanently involved in a social movement is another. Did the increase in protesters also lead to a consolidation of civil society work? "Our data show only a minimal increase in volunteer work in anti-racist organizations. We cannot quantitatively prove a clear trend over time," says Kim. "What we do see, however, is that the willingness to volunteer in the future has increased slightly, similar to other forms of anti-racist engagement." This suggests that there is still plenty of room for volunteer work for anti-racist organizations.