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Anti-fascist research group Kafka, commonly abbreviated to Kafka, is a Dutch anti-fascist and far-left research group, founded by Hans van Drunen.[ citation needed] Its name was said to be an acronym for Kollektief Anti-Fascistisch/-Kapitalistisch Archief (English: Collective Anti-Fascist/ -Capitalist Archive) before 1994, but the research group has since indicated that they had named themselves after the writer Franz Kafka. [1]
Kafka finds its origins in the squatters' movement. It conducts research into groups and individuals in the Netherlands whom it considers to be far-right, and the developments related to them. The results are published on the website of the research group. [2] Kafka is funded by gifts and donations, rather than subsidies. [3] Jaap van Beek has been the group's spokesperson since at least 2010. [4]
In the run-up to the provincial elections of 2011, Kafka published a report which showed that various Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) candidate members and party supporters (who had signed its "Declaration of support for a list of candidates" document) had ties to the far-right. Among them were former Centre Democrats and members or candidate members of the Dutch People's Union. [5] [6]
In December 2017, the research group published a report on Géza Hegedüs , who had been presented as PVV's lead candidate in Rotterdam for the 2018 municipal elections. Kafka revealed that Hegedüs was a member of the alt-right Studiegenootschap Erkenbrand and had shared, among other things, antisemitic and antiziganist opinions and his belief in a coming civil war in Western Europe on that group's podcast. [7] [8]
In 2023, two White Lives Matter (WLM) activists were arrested on suspicion of projecting white nationalist slogans on the Erasmusbrug in Rotterdam and other structures in Alkmaar and Eindhoven. [9] Dutch media cited Kafka's report on WLM in their coverage, [10] and the group's spokesperson voiced his concerns about right-wing extremists' attempts to normalize racism and the increased use of ethnonationalist rhetoric in mainstream political discourse. [11] [12]
In the 2008 annual threat report of the General Intelligence and Security Service ( Dutch: Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD), under the heading 'left-wing extremism', Kafka was mentioned as the information supplier of the left-wing activist group Anti-Fascistische Aktie (AFA). [13] In 2010, the AIVD wrote in its report Afkalvend front, blijvend beladen (English: Calving Front, Permanently Fraught) that Kafka and AFA strove to "keep everything that is considered right-wing out of the public space." Kafka and AFA would allegedly pursue this anti-democratic goal through undemocratic means, such as (inciting) violence and intimidation. [14]
Part of a series on |
Anti-fascism |
---|
![]() |
Anti-fascist research group Kafka, commonly abbreviated to Kafka, is a Dutch anti-fascist and far-left research group, founded by Hans van Drunen.[ citation needed] Its name was said to be an acronym for Kollektief Anti-Fascistisch/-Kapitalistisch Archief (English: Collective Anti-Fascist/ -Capitalist Archive) before 1994, but the research group has since indicated that they had named themselves after the writer Franz Kafka. [1]
Kafka finds its origins in the squatters' movement. It conducts research into groups and individuals in the Netherlands whom it considers to be far-right, and the developments related to them. The results are published on the website of the research group. [2] Kafka is funded by gifts and donations, rather than subsidies. [3] Jaap van Beek has been the group's spokesperson since at least 2010. [4]
In the run-up to the provincial elections of 2011, Kafka published a report which showed that various Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) candidate members and party supporters (who had signed its "Declaration of support for a list of candidates" document) had ties to the far-right. Among them were former Centre Democrats and members or candidate members of the Dutch People's Union. [5] [6]
In December 2017, the research group published a report on Géza Hegedüs , who had been presented as PVV's lead candidate in Rotterdam for the 2018 municipal elections. Kafka revealed that Hegedüs was a member of the alt-right Studiegenootschap Erkenbrand and had shared, among other things, antisemitic and antiziganist opinions and his belief in a coming civil war in Western Europe on that group's podcast. [7] [8]
In 2023, two White Lives Matter (WLM) activists were arrested on suspicion of projecting white nationalist slogans on the Erasmusbrug in Rotterdam and other structures in Alkmaar and Eindhoven. [9] Dutch media cited Kafka's report on WLM in their coverage, [10] and the group's spokesperson voiced his concerns about right-wing extremists' attempts to normalize racism and the increased use of ethnonationalist rhetoric in mainstream political discourse. [11] [12]
In the 2008 annual threat report of the General Intelligence and Security Service ( Dutch: Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD), under the heading 'left-wing extremism', Kafka was mentioned as the information supplier of the left-wing activist group Anti-Fascistische Aktie (AFA). [13] In 2010, the AIVD wrote in its report Afkalvend front, blijvend beladen (English: Calving Front, Permanently Fraught) that Kafka and AFA strove to "keep everything that is considered right-wing out of the public space." Kafka and AFA would allegedly pursue this anti-democratic goal through undemocratic means, such as (inciting) violence and intimidation. [14]