German politicians are struggling to find a way to respond to the Pegida movement in Eastern Germany. The question that presents itself to the German political elite now is whether or not to engage in dialogue with the organizers of the movement. Some argue it will give the movement, explicitly defined by several as racist, merit. I argue that it might be more politically costly not to open the doors to dialogue.
Read MoreWho are the people?: Why Pegida is as much about Germany’s self-image as about Muslim immigration.
In recent weeks, Germany has been rattled by a grass-roots, anti-immigration social movement called Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the Occident (Pegida). For months, this movement has organized street marches every Monday evening in cities throughout Germany, most successfully so in the East German city of Dresden
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