Radical right movements in the 21st century: Mobilisation, Formations and Consequences

This section puts together research on Radical Right participation, mobilization, organization, and consequences for liberal democracies, highlighting novel topics/perspectives. As right-wing radicalism, from populist parties and politicians to extremist movements, is gaining strength and visibility in many liberal democracies in Europe and in North America, this section will try to understand, from a social movement approach, the growing strength and social support of contemporary radical right groups and parties in a range of forms and practices, from protests and street actions to formal institutions, by exploring the causes, patterns, interactions with various actors, and consequences of these phenomena. To address the key factors contributing to the rise and strengthening of radicalism, the section pursues a multi-faceted approach. A detailed analysis of the entire field of radical right actors serves to investigate the various organizational and ideological patterns in which they emerge, as well as the emotional, cognitive and relational dynamics that shape individual engagement and disengagement and the trajectories of the Radical Right at a micro, meso and even (perceived) macro levels. Central focuses are on agents of the Radical Right, and how recent health, economic, political, im/migration and war crises of the EU and worldwide have affected the diffusion and consolidation of varieties of radicalisms in Europe, North America, and beyond (such as new kinds of social movements and subcultural and violent groups). The panel will probe whether we can still assume a difference between Radical Right political parties and movements, or between street-level and institutions right wing mobilization in Western democracies and beyond, or if more novel concepts such as movement-parties is a better description of Radical Right politics in the 21st century. The section will also consider the broader context in which radical right actors operate,, including specificities of party systems, culture and traditions, the local space, time and sequences, trajectories, and ‘macro’ level phenomena such as party de-alignment, potential legacy effects, demand- and supply-side factors explaining mobilization and formation, and the interaction between radical parties and movements, as well as mediating elements like civil society organizations, the EU and other international actors (such as Russian and US influences on European right wing groups). The effects of contemporary right-wing radicalisms are also central. Panels will address this by looking not only at violence, but also potential policy changes though diffusion of ideas and interactions with and impact on other actors (mainstream political actors, state institutions, civil society) within the political system, etc. We are interested in the consequences of Radical Right developments on the democratic quality of political systems (e.g. radicalization of the political mainstream, convergence of radical views on the left and right, and the polarization of party systems and societies), policy-making, and political discourse. In a more general sense, the section seeks to offer answers to the question whether and to what degree radical parties and movements contribute to a transformation of current liberal democracies. The section welcomes different theoretical and conceptual approaches, within a social movement perspective, on Radical Right politics and organizations. It welcomes pluralist methods, as well as novel and less popular methods for the study of the RR from a social movement perspective, such as frame analysis, visual analysis, ethnography, life histories interviews, etc. Reflections on the extent to which novel and classical categories within social movement studies can help us to understand the Radical Right of the 21th century, as well as efforts to better conceptualize the current phenomena, are also welcome. The section is open to panel and paper proposals from various sub-disciplines, with different methodological and empirical approaches and with scopes ranging from case studies to comparative papers. Panels address very novel topics/approaches related to the research on the RR. To strengthen exchange among the various fields and approaches, the section welcomes interdisciplinary and mixed-method studies and approaches to right-wing radicalism across Europe, North America and beyond.