Our book of the month from Manchester University Press

16 Jun 2021

Production Editor at Manchester University Press Jen Mellor reviews this month's pick

The wolves are coming back: The politics of fear in Eastern Germany by Pates and Leser

Jen writes: 'Spoiler alert – this book isn’t really about wolves. Right-wing populist parties are on the rise across Europe, and there are books and podcasts aplenty out there offering grand opinions and sweeping theories about the whys, wherefores and what-can-be-dones. This book comes at it from a specific angle – you’ve guessed it, wolves.

It turns out the Unification of Germany was not necessarily a happy knitting-together of two states; instead, the falling-off of heavy industry and coal-mining in the East meant that a lot of people moved West, and while this lack of people and infrastructure has allowed for strong environmental improvements in the last 30 years, it’s also created a landscape perfect for wolves to move into (73 packs and counting!), as well as leaving behind a population of disenfranchised farmers, hunters and other rural dwellers whose vote is ripe for the taking.

And with many of these wolves coming from areas of Poland or Denmark (they’re undocumented and foreign!), swimming across rivers to avoid borders (they’re crafty and devious!), and some not even being wolves at all (they’re impure wolf-canine hybrids!), it’s not hard to see why right-wing parties are using ‘wolf politics’ to appeal to the nationalist leanings of the ‘real’ people in the East and promote their own anti-immigration agendas. The Greens want to protect the wolves and welcome them in but they don’t have to live with them, argue parties like the right-wing AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) with their ‘threat to democracy’ battle-cry. At one point in the book a female farmer whispers, ‘I think they should be shot too,’ seemingly talking about both wolves and refugees.

I found the authors’ use of the wolf motif makes a complicated topic approachable and leads to some interesting discussions on history, culture and politics along the way – burly woodcutters in fairy-tales taking a ‘civilising’ axe to anyone threatening their womenfolk; the idea of the ‘lone-wolf’ terrorist; the fact that the National Socialists were obsessed with wolves, and two of Hitler’s headquarters had ‘wolf’ in their names. I could go on…

It’s a good time to read this book, with the German federal election coming up in September and a post-Merkel era looming. I highly recommend it.

And don’t worry; if you came here looking for a book just about wolves, we’ve got one of those too – 'In the company of wolves', edited by George and Hughes, which is all about wolves in nature and culture, as well as werewolves and wild children.'

More information:

• University staff members can access all of MUP’s digital titles for free – just select ‘Sign in via institution’ at manchesterhive.com.