“Intention is not method, belief is not evidence” : Civic Education and Prevention with Former Right-Wing Extremists in German Schools

Overall, the findings give no clear indication that the involvement of former right-wing extremists in schools initiate civic education processes or prevent political extremism. In this vein, this book makes a pioneer contribution to quality assurance and evaluation research in civic education and extremism prevention.

For over 20 years, school interventions involving former right-wing extremists have been popular in Germany. In practice, they are advertised and conducted as both civic education and extremism prevention. This book uses an evidence-based and interdisciplinary approach to examine the potentials and challenges of this format. It provides a thematic embedding of German application, a comprehensive review of attributed impact assumptions and the state of related research. Furthermore, this research offers highly valuable, unique and comprehensive insights based on empirical evidence. It thus contributes to a better understanding of the format and its complexity. Overall, the findings give no clear indication that the involvement of former right-wing extremists in schools initiate civic education processes or prevent political extremism. Rather, the investigation found fundamental needs for additional research, modification, and sensitization. In this vein, this book makes a pioneer contribution to quality assurance and evaluation research in civic education and extremism prevention.