New Warriors Have Risen? Dynamics of Left-Wing Covid and Post-Covid Protest in Czechia and Eastern Germany

In the Covid and post-Covid era, research on protest activities in Central and Eastern Europe has primarily focused on the radical right (e.g., Caiani 2024; Heinze and Weisskircher 2023; Wondreys and Mudde 2022). However, the multifaceted challenges of the current poly-crisis (Oana et al. 2024) - marked by the convergence of multiple overlapping crises - underline the need to examine left-wing protest activities, generally tied to the mobilization of economically disadvantaged citizens as well. This political stream encompasses not only ecological and anti-fascist movements but also the recent rise of nationalist radical left (NRL) platforms in Central Europe, which blend traditional left-wing economic approaches with nationalist critiques of anti-Covid measurements and migration policies. Two notable examples of this phenomenon are the Czech alliance Enough! (Stačilo!), rooted in the anti-vaccination protest base and closely linked to the Communist Party, and the German Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), which has participated in protest activities following its split from The Left party. This paper provides a theoretical framework for considering NRL protests in Czechia and the eastern regions of Germany (the former GDR), treating Germany as a state with persistent internal economic and political divisions (e.g. Klüsener and Goldstein 2016; Arzheimer 2023). I argue that the political developments in Eastern Germany display significant parallels with the dynamics in post-communist Central Europe, with fundamental implications for shaping political routines, including the nature of protest. Empirically, this paper investigates the recent NRL activities using mixed-methods approach. Quantitatively, based on ACLED project data, it situates NRL protests within the broader protest, assessing space-time correlations across regions between 2020 and 2024: a period that captures both crisis and post-crisis dynamics. Additionally, original qualitative data derived from participatory observations of NRL protest events conducted in Czechia and the former GDR offer further insights. This paper advances the debate on European protest participation and mobilization in two ways. First, it addresses a research gap by focusing on nationalist left protest activities, a distinct phenomenon in Central and Eastern Europe, exploring actors that simultaneously operate as political parties. Second, it brings novel comparative view on two territories, one integrated into a different state yet sharing key determinants with the post-communist political space – enhancing our understanding of the historical and political interplay shaping contemporary regional protest dynamics.