Rebecca Aechtner

Religion, Politics and the German Greens: a Historical and Anthropological Study Rebecca Aechtner

This work comes as the German Green Party celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of its founding in 1980. It describes the often contradictory positions of the German Greens in their historical, political, and cultural contexts. Research revealed numerous conflicting policies within the Greens, including their desire for the separation of religion and state, but insistence that the latter integrate Islam into German society; and the persistent support of abortion, but rejection of stem cell research. The current study shows the German Green Party in an open process of engagement with a wide range of institutional partners. Thus it seeks to examine both the Green Party's dealings with Germany's leading religious communities, primarily Islam and the Evangelical and Catholic churches, while incorporating the religious opinions of prominent Greens.