Demo participants feel new agency. Most demonstrators and their sympathizers hope that the rallies will result in a constant ‘wave of citizens’ who will stand up against everything that goes wrong in politics.
The Cologne Rheingold Institute surveyed more than 1,000 people online and 26 people in depth interviews at the end of January. 29 percent of those surveyed said they could imagine taking part in demonstrations against the right in the future. “We won’t be able to convince everyone, but if we keep talking, some change is possible,” says psychologist Stephan Grünewald.