On February 12 2020, the Senate chamber of the Italian Parliament approved the go-ahead to revoke parliamentary immunity for the former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini – leader of the Italian populist radical-right League – in order to be tried on the Gregoretti case. Matteo Salivini is accused for abuse of power and for kidnapping 135… Continue reading “Is Italian right-wing populism in decline?”
The activities of vigilante groups should be contained before far-right groups add fuel to the fire. A wave of violent activities has been unleashed on the Greek islands and the Greek-Turkish land border, with vigilantes targeting NGOs, journalists, and migrants. Who are these new vigilantes? How are they connected to far-right organizations? The decision of… Continue reading “Far-right vigilantism at Europe’s borders: the Greek experience”
Locals in the Greek island of Lesbos went from being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for welcoming refugees five years ago to hurling racist slurs today. On March 1st, a video made its appearance on the media. The location: the village of Thermi, in the Greek island of Lesbos. In the video, one can clearly observe… Continue reading “How Greece Went From Welcoming To Demonizing Refugees”
The murder of Walter Lübcke, a member of Merkel’s political party, highlights the long history of radical right terrorism against German politicians. On 2 June 2019, Walter Lübcke, the acting district president of Kassel (Hesse) and member of Angela Merkel’s CDU, was murdered in front of his house door with a headshot. A couple of… Continue reading “The Neo-Nazi Murder Of A German Politician Highlights Threat Of Radical Right Terrorism”
White supremacists like Richard Spencer advocate for ‘peaceful ethnic cleansing’ of people of color. President Trump’s policies serve that objective. In September, reports hit major news outlets that, Bee Love Slater, a transgender woman of color, was found ‘burned beyond recognition’—the eighteenth transgender woman murdered in the US this year. The veneer of tolerance, the… Continue reading “This Is What ‘Peaceful Ethnic Cleansing’ Looks Like”
To prevent such developments, mainstream parties need to shape political discourse, instead of being shaped by it. In August 2017, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alexander Gauland proposed to ‘dispatch’ the then Federal Commissioner for Immigration, Refugees and Integration, Aydan Özoğuz (SPD), back to Anatolia. Some weeks later, the AfD party entered the German… Continue reading “Merkel’s dilemma: Germany’s polarising ‘Turkish issue’ returns”
The anti-immigrant rhetoric we’re seeing in Europe and from President Trump is not only dehumanizing, it has a dangerous resonance in history. In April this year, Christian Schilcher, a local government leader for the radical right Austrian Freedom party, was forced to step down after publishing a poem titled ‘Die Stadtratte’ (‘The City Rat’). The poem compared… Continue reading “Pests, Invaders and Infestations: The Radical Right’s Dehumanization Of Immigrants”
In 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada won a resounding victory at the federal elections, claiming almost 40 per cent of the vote share. Its leader, now Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau stood on a platform of liberal principles. He publicly championed the plight of refugees and immigrants, supported a woman’s right to wear a niqab… Continue reading “‘A bastion of liberal values’? The rise of the radical right in Canada”
Such proposals and appeals have not been seen or heard in Vienna and Austria since Nazi times. Every day, we are confronted with new provocations by the Austrian government which would have been deemed unimaginable just a few years ago: For example, the suggestion by the Austrian minister of Interior Affairs, Herbert Kickl of the radical… Continue reading “Contesting liberal democracy using the racialisation of space”