PEGIDA

In response to both increased migrations, as well as following the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, a populist nativist movement began to arise across Europe and beyond under the title PEGIDA. PEGIA began in Germany, and the acronym roughly translates as Patriotic Europeans against Islamization of the West.

The origins of this movement were quite modest, as it only attracted 300 people in its first demonstration in Dresden, Germany in October 2014. However, following the attacks in France, it reached the heights of an estimated 25,000 demonstrators. PEGIDA published a 19-point manifesto that espouses Judeo-Christian values and calls for greater protection.

While it was founded in Germany, it soon gained traction elsewhere around the world. Similar movements under the same banner have surfaced in Norway, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada and Sweden. However, none of these branches ever reached a comparable size to the demonstrations held in Dresden.

Although this movement is more of a reactionary one and does not necessarily display cooperation amongst populist nationalism internationally, it does show how their ideas spread and gain legitimacy in an international context. For instance, PEGIDA’s origins were small and modest up until the Charlie Hebdo attacks. These attacks occurred in France, yet the strongest demonstrations took place in Germany. This illustrates how populist nationalist movements pragmatically utilize events in other settings to justify their own beliefs.

PEGIDA also furthers the narrative that European populist nationalism is inherently nativist, and relies on defining the non-native more so than it does defining the native values and characteristics. Ultimately this allows the populist nationalist movements to cooperate together, because they target Muslims and Islam as a common non-native group.