German Antifa and the Paradox of Ghostly Militanz

This paper examines the ongoing state prosecution case against ‘Antifa Ost’ in Leipzig. The ongoing trial seeks to ‘make a legal example’ of the Antifascist activist Lina E, a 25 year old student accused of being the planning mastermind leading a 10-person clandestine Antifa cell on a series of violent attacks against Neo-Nazis between 2018 and 2020 in the federal states of Saxony and Thuringia. One must note that in Saxony up to 30% of the population supports the far-right, anti-migrant, and nationalist AfD party. While these charges against Lina E are highly debatable, the paper investigates this case in the context of the historical trajectory of Militanz since the 1990s. While Militanz is part of a radical Left tradition of morally justified action, this paper argues that its current application in Leipzig is problematic, due to the lack of any political communication from Antifa Ost. Their activism disturbs the political status quo, but remains unwilling (perhaps unable) to communicate this interruption in any widely legible form that can be read as morally justified. Rather, Lina’s alleged actions reflect a new rendition of Antifa Militanz, moving from an outward facing representational politics to what I call an ‘inward turn’ toward the formation of a radical subjectivity (Jones 2018b). This self-referential identity politics builds upon the social movement ‘politics of the self’ of the 1970-80s. It also reflect a deep disenchantment with public political engagement. While never espousing class revolution, contemporary Antifa nonetheless reflects the paradox of a non-representational politics seemingly dedicated to the moral good of society, while also refusing (or being unable) to engage in any sort of discourse to that end. This paper will analyze that paradox as a ‘ghostly Militanz’, within the context of the changing nature of Militanz since the 1980s.