Ukip’s recent autumn conference saw interim leader Gerard Batten unveil a host of radical new policies, including all-Muslim prisons; restricted migration from ‘Islamic’ countries; the end of hate crime prosecution and laws which criminalise discrimination; an NHS ‘health card’ which would be denied to foreigners; and an end to ‘LGBT inclusive’ classrooms in schools. These… Continue reading “UKIP may have taken a far right turn – but it has always been a home for extremism”
Over the course of the year, far-right groups in Quebec appear to have been systematically attempting to intimidate journalists and academics who focus on their activities. In May, half a dozen masked members of Atalante, a group which advocates openly for a “renaissance of the neo-French in Quebec,” gained entry to the Montreal newsroom of… Continue reading “When the Radical Right Shows Up”
Current leader of UKIP, Gerard Batten, announced recently that he would be taking the party in a new, ‘populist’ direction. Batten defines populism (rather simply but also ambiguously) as ‘policies that are popular with voters’. In their latest manifesto, however, the party’s stance on a range of issues – from the NHS to Brexit, immigration, and prisons policy – suggests not… Continue reading “Towards a new ‘populist’ party? UKIP’s interim manifesto and the future of the UK radical right”
The recent right-wing surge in Germany is marked by an increasing degree of dispersal among radical-right actors. New parties, movements, groupuscules, think tanks and media outlets have emerged since 2013 (when the Alternative for Germany party, the AfD, was founded), fundamentally transforming the radical-right field and causing a lack of strategic coordination and ideological coherency.… Continue reading “Uniting Germany’s Radical Right”
This article is the third in a series on using social network analysis to explain the structure of extremist online communities and events. The paper that this article is based on will be presented at the 10th International Social Informatics Conference on September 26, 2018. Back in 2017 I began collecting and analyzing social media… Continue reading “Understanding the Network of Anti-Muslim Groups on Facebook”
In his recently published Alt-Right (London: Pluto Press, 2018) Mike Wendling provides a detailed analysis of the alt-right as it exists almost exclusively in cyberspace. The alt-right achieved prominence during the 2016 presidential election campaign thanks largely to Breitbart and its then editor Steve Bannon. Wendling calls attention to the phenomenon of ‘trolling.’ Anonymous ‘trolls’… Continue reading “Trolling Has Been Part Of Right-Wing Movements Throughout History”
The trajectory of Italy’s Northern League party is a case study of the complex ways in which perceptions of regional, national and ethnic identity operates in the contemporary politics of the radical right. If you visited Venice in the spring of 2006 during the Italian elections, you could see billboards plastered with Lega Nord… Continue reading “The Transformation of the Northern League”
Technology companies, government, and civil society are working together to take action against extremist exploitation of the Internet. This agenda emerged in response to concerns that Islamic State propaganda on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook might encourage viewers across the world to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State or coordinate attacks in the… Continue reading “Tech That Counters Online Islamic Extremism Must Also Focus On Right-Wing Extremism”
From the Fringes The transnational radical right is growing beyond the fringes of society and politics where it once lingered and is now seeping into the mainstream. A key message to help in doing this is ant-Muslim hatred. According to many on the radical right, the global trend of Muslim migrants and Islamist terrorism… Continue reading “They’re Not All White, But All Alt-Patriots”
This article is the second in a series on network analysis of the radical right. A prior posting for the CARR blog explains how network analysis can help explain the structure of online communities. Fifty years after the “Summer of Love” transformed American youth culture, Andrew Anglin, the proprietor of the neo-Nazi website The Daily… Continue reading “Analysis Of Facebook Activity Reveals Who Attended Last Year’s “Unite The Right” Rally”