Die globalistische Elite gegen das Volk. Antisemitismus und rechtspopulistisches Elitenbild

Abstract In the social sciences, it is often argued that in right-wing populism anti-Semitism does not play an important role and that cultural racism has taken over its function. In contrast, this article aims to show that right-wing populism reproduces anti-Semitic patterns in a codified form. First, it will be shown that problematic definitions and explanatory approaches are widespread in social science discourse, which contribute to the fact that the anti-Semitic content of right-wing populism is barely perceived. Subsequently, by analyzing two case studies – an essay by AfD politician Alexander Gauland and a speech by Donald Trump – it is shown that right-wing populist discourses asserting a struggle between the people and the »globalist elite« reproduce anti-Semitic patterns even though »Jews« are not explicitly mentioned. Finally, it is argued that this phenomenon can be grasped with the concept of structural anti-Semitism. With this term, it can be made clear that right-wing populism indeed has an anti-Semitic potential and that the contents and functions of anti-Semitism and racism must be distinguished.