The COVID-19 conspiratorial cesspool is populated by both right-wing extremists and parts of the liberal left that views itself as woke, progressive and definitely anti-racist. In his recent article on openDemocracy, Matthias Wasser points out the fact that misinformation is not the prerogative of the radical right or the right for that matter. Indeed, the Covid-19… Continue reading “COVID-19 has exposed the odd conspiracy links between left and right”
Can there be a better solution than spreading awareness and counter-narratives? In her recent article on openDemocracy, Miranda Christou argues that the radical right does three things: spreads (dangerously) false information, recontextualizes acknowledged facts and research, and spreads narratives to lay doubt at the ability of others to offer their own narratives. She is right about… Continue reading “Can anything be done against radical right misinformation?”
Introduction In April 2020, the German radical right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) lost more than 4% in the opinion polls compared to January. Its popularity this month was at the level of 9-10% (down from a record of 18% nationally in 2018 and 25% in the eastern state polls). There are two reasons for… Continue reading “Will be the world more tolerant after the Covid-19 Pandemic?”
Since Trump’s electoral victory in 2016, many journalists have praised The Authoritarian Personality as a prophetic text that predicted the rise of fascism in the United States. On the seventieth anniversary of its publication, Andrew Woods reflects on The Authoritarian Personality’s approach to conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists in the radical right. Following the 2016… Continue reading “Revisiting the Authoritarian Personality: Conspiracy Theories and the Crank”
What conspiracy storylines are helping create the beliefs that justify the cause of the radical right? Conspiracy theories create insecurity. If malevolent forces are said to manipulate everything on earth—the economy, politics, society, vaccination, agriculture, education, media and life itself—it affects the sense of security and normalcy that people need to feel in order to… Continue reading “Apocalypse now: the conspiracy theories of the radical right”
Books and literature have become important elements of a thriving radical-right that not only sustains political and economic ideas, but also forms a cultural space held together by shared “cultural imaginaries”. This blog entry is part two of a mini-series that looks at how novels and other pieces of fiction help to envision ideal… Continue reading “Images of a ‘Better’ World? Fictional Storytelling in the Radical Right (Part II)”
How is the radical right using the COVID-19 pandemic to advance their political agenda? On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Originally identified in Wuhan, China, in late December, COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus that causes flu and pneumonia-like symptoms. As of March 12, 2020, the number of infected… Continue reading “Coronavirus and the radical right: conspiracy, disinformation, and xenophobia”
In the first CARR Research Insight, Mark Potok considers the resurgence of the radical right in the United States. This piece explores this resurgence in the context of ethnic and racial hatred and political backlash against multiculturalism. Turning to the radical right in the early 20th century, Potok provides an overview of a long history of ethnic and racial hatred. He argues that Donald… Continue reading “CARR Research Insight Series: Two Americas: The Radical Right, Then and Now”
The continent’s radical right fringes might be able to end the month with a victory at the ballot box. February 2020 will be a busy month for some of the extreme elements of Europe’s radical right. Multiple events are expected: marches, concerts, an election in Slovakia where a radical right party is second in the… Continue reading “February 2020: a busy month for Europe’s radical right”
“We all know Iran, don’t we? Or at least we think we do”. So said John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor, on air in the early 1990s. A veteran Iran reporter, Simpson had accompanied Ayatollah Khomeini on his return flight to Iran in 1979 from exile in France. The point he was making was… Continue reading “Radical-Right Demonization of Soleimani and Iran: Islamophobic Weaponry in the Public Sphere”