Much has been written lately in regard to the electoral ‘rise’ of the populist radical right across European politics. Whilst it is true that the populist radical right has gained considerably in recent national parliamentary elections that span the refugee crisis (2015–2018) and outperformed centre left social democratic parties considerably. Much less attention has been… Continue reading “Beyond the Populist Radical Right: Centre Right Party Electoral Success on Immigration in the 21st Century”
On February 1st 2019 a workshop was organized by the Zentrum für zeithistorische Forschung (ZZF) (Centre for Contemporary History) in Potsdam, with Frank Bösch, Yves Müller, Dominik Rigoll, Sarah Schulz, Julia Kleinschmidt, Christoph Schulze, Anke Hoffstadt, Henrike Voigtländer and Sebastian Bischoff, to name only those present on stage. The purpose of this workshop with approximately… Continue reading “Conference Report: “Right-Wing Extremism as a research object in Contemporary History””
There is a certain irony of anti-European far-right groups in the UK utilizing and reproducing the promotion of French nationalism through the symbolic yellow vests. The so-called yellow vests, or the gilets jaunes — the original name given to the protesters adorned in high-visibility jackets who have been marching and rioting across France since November 2018 — have… Continue reading “Yellow Vests: The Irony of Transnational Nationalism”
In the May European elections, the immigration issue will continue to play a role in the expected success of radical right parties. The initial success of radical right parties such as the French Front National (FN) in the mid-1980s coincided with concerns about immigration flows into countries across Europe. Although the post-WWII guest-worker era had… Continue reading “The radical right, immigration and the future of the EU”
Belgium presents a “negative” case where the radical right has experienced a downward electoral spiral. The majority of recent research has focused on the rise of populist radical-right parties in contemporary European politics. Recent cases such as Italy (Northern League), Austria (The Freedom Party), Hungary (Fidesz), Germany (Alternative for Germany) and the Netherlands (The Party… Continue reading “Why Is the Far Right Losing Voters in Belgium?”
It’s become clear that racism isn’t a side effect of far-right ideology, it is a foundational quality of radical right parties in the US and Europe. Is racism a necessary component of the radical right’s appeal? When I was conducting my research on the radical right in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I tried… Continue reading “Racism Is A Core Component Of The Radical Right”
The Economist recently published an article titled “European xenophobia reflects racial diversity, not asylum applications.” Despite the misleading title, the article actually purports to show that the ethnic and racial make-up of a country is strongly correlated with increases in pro-immigrant sentiment in Europe. It illustrates this using a scatterplot, where points represent the… Continue reading “No, the Racial Diversity of a Country Does Not Perfectly Predict Pro-Immigrant Attitudes”
I read books. From the books I have read, I have learned that trade wars end badly. By “badly” is meant: war. War is generally not good. I have also learned that nationalism ends badly, not only for those who are excluded from the in-group. This is a conclusion one can learn from sources other… Continue reading “Why I Am a Very Stable Genius – CARR Thoughts for the Holiday Season”
Given increasing immigration to Europe, an important question is whether objective immigration increases the popularity of radical right parties. This question is especially relevant in Sweden, the country that accepted the largest per capita share of refugees during the so-called European Migrant Crisis of 2015. Sweden’s 2018 national election is only a few months away,… Continue reading “As Sweden Sees More Immigration, The Far Right Sees Opportunity”
Running counter to a common narrative holding that Britain has become a more intolerant country since the Brexit vote, data continues to emerge that British attitudes to immigration have relaxed since the Brexit vote – and continue to. As Professor Rob Ford and Dr Maria Sobolewska of Manchester University commented in a British Future report published… Continue reading “What Impact Will Britain’s Increasingly Relaxed Attitudes to Immigration Have on Radical Right Support?”