Europeanization through Crises? the German Post-Communist –Left and the Reflection of the Recent Crises

The refugee crisis is after the EURO crisis and the Ukraine crisis the third big international challenge in German politics. The refugee crisis heated up the political atmosphere and is likely to play a big role in the election campaigning for the 2017’s elections. Within the first two crises the post-communist party Die Linke was able to take fundamentally different standpoints than the other parliamentarian parties. Out for their ideological perspective they tried to promote their anticapitalistic and anti-western integration policies. In terms of the refugee crisis the party seems to be partly disunited but the official line of the party’s bureau is supporting the acceptance of refugees in Germany. They are also calling up for more European solidarity. This standpoint might even lead to a decrease in votes at the next elections both at state and national level.

This paper should explore how the party reflects the crises and reacts on the current challenges connected with them. Therefore it is from interest if or how the party exploits these topics. Furthermore it should be analysed how the party reflects the crisis intellectually, which standpoints are taken within the party, what cause they see for the crisis and how the party interacts in the public discourse. Within this it is from interest how the party deals strategically with the crisis, especially because the next parliamentarian elections are close. Last but not least the paper should raise the question if the party brings up a concept how to change the EU.