On distinguishing the milieu of the “Reichsbürger”—Pathologization of the political and politization of the pathological

Abstract

“Reichsbürger”/sovereign citizens have increasingly come into the focus of the security authorities in recent years. This is an atypical form of extremism of the second half of life whose main form of action is paper terrorism. From a criminal psychology point of view, this article is intended to contribute to the sharpening of concepts, dispel myths and explain the ideological anchorage in right-wing extremism. From a conflict theoretical perspective, the heterogeneous milieu of the “Reichsbürger” is distinguished from the neighboring phenomena of conspiracy theories, persistent complainants and preppers. The ambivalent interrelationship between pathologization and politicization in the categorization of politically motivated criminality is problematized.