- Anders R. Jupskås: “Back on the streets? Assessing contemporary far right mobilization in Norway”
- Chris Holmsted Larsen: “Accumulative processes and changes in Danish extreme political groups – a case study of the rise of the extreme right wing counter jihad groups vis-à-vis the stagnation of the extreme left wing antifascist Groups”
- Fabio Ferrarini: “’Geo-fascism’: a modern approach in order to continue our studies of Fascism and Neo-fascism”
- The Norwegian Police Security Service - "Patterns of radicalization in the Norwegian extreme right"
Back on the Streets? Assessing contemporary far right mobilization in Norway
Anders Ravik Jupskås, University of Oslo
In Norway, far right mobilization has been marginal since the 1990s, especially outside of social media. In recent years, however, far right groups seem to be ‘back on the streets’. This article asks whether the far right in Norway is on the rise and whether the environment in which it operates is repressive or permissive.
The article first assess the strength of contemporary far right offline mobilization by looking at the frequency of public protest events, the number of activists participating in these events and the extent to which they receive (mass) media coverage. Subsequently, it analyzes whether the legal and political environment is repressive or permissive by looking at the strength of counter-mobilization and the reactions from law enforcement agencies. Of particular interest is the extent to which the public protest events of the far right lead to violent confrontations.
The results suggest that the far right does carry out public demonstrations more frequently, but that they are unable to mobilize more than 50-70 activist at the most and that they rarely mobilize together. Despite low number of activists at the events, however, they still receive substantial media coverage. The legal environment is rather permissive partly because the levels of violence are very low, while the political environment is far more repressive characterized by frequent, larger and cross-partisan counter-demonstrations.
Accumulative processes and changes in Danish extreme political groups – a case study of the rise of the extreme Right Wing counter jihad groups vis-à-vis the stagnation of the extreme Left Wing antifascist groups.
Chris Holmsted Larsen, Nationalt Center for Forebyggelse af Ekstremisme
With foothold in the recently initiated postdoc-project Political extremism and radicalization in Denmark – a qualitative and comparative investigation of change and continuity on the extreme Right- and Leftwing from 2001 to 2018 I would like to present a case study-paper focusing on the preliminary thoughts on the significance and validity of accumulative processes, which can help explain the contemporary rise of the counter jihad groups vis-à-vis the stagnation of the antifascist groups.
This paper will discuss the ideological, political and activist explanations for the current crisis in the Danish antifascist left and the historically significant low level of traditional Leftwing political violence. The paper will furthermore discuss of the repercussions of a Danish extreme right navigating between and altering from national socialist subcultures to anti jihadist groups e.g. changes in political allies, opportunities and contentious politics (or lack of such) all taking place in the framework of a rapidly changing globalized world.
Last, the paper will discuss the validity of alternative explanations such as changing urban landscapes and loss of Left Wing cultural spaces (fx ‘Ungdomshuset’) e.g. gentrification and the impact of countermeasures e.g. new anti-terror laws, PVE and more structuralist theories such as a longue durée - the long term consequences of an ideological fatigue and change initiated by the end of the Cold War and a turn to anti-ideological identity politics.
"Geo-fascism": A modern approach in order to continue our studies of Fascism and Neo-Fascism
Fabio Ferrarini, Università degli Studi di Milano
In 1979 Peter Merkl tried to define the different fascist movements according to their social origins and, therefore, their ideological interpetation. Merkl admitted that his framework was limited but it is useful to confirm some features of the different “geo-fascist” movements. For example, the origins of the Finnish Lapua Movement were connected to the nationalist ideology, while Hitler’s Nazism demonstrates the racial element of fascist ideology. According to Stein Ugelvik Larsen, the study of fascism was particularly important in relation to the Nazi interpretation of the nordic race, its mithology and medieval heritage.
Modern topics such as “ethno-nationalism”, “cultural racism” and “nativism”, suggested to me that maybe we need a new approach in order to continue our studies of fascism. Geography is more relevant than we think. Before being studied globally, fascism must be analysed locally, taking into consideration ethnic, linguistic and economic matters. Then, it would be useful to understand “how” and “why” Fascism (or Neo-fascism) could spread beyond the national borders of a certain country. This was, in the end, what happened immediately after the “March on Rome” and, in some ways, the “germ of fascism” spread almost everywhere.
This is the real essence of what I define as “geo-fascism”. Yet, as Roger Griffin suggests, studies of peripheral and failed fascisms can also contribute important insights for understanding both the ‘centre’ of fascism, as well as modern nationalist extremist movements. Fascism as an international political phenomenon cannot be understood from rigidly national interpretative frameworks.
The Norwegian Police Security Service - "Patterns of radicalization in the Norwegian extreme right"
PST har gjennomført et prosjekt der vi undersøker hva som er bakgrunnen til personer som inngår i høyreekstreme miljøer. Med høyreekstreme miljøer menes både de tradisjonell nynazistiske grupperingene, men også mer islamfiendtlige miljøer og nettverk. Vi er interessert i informasjon om bl.a. sosioøkonomiske forhold, men også mer utfordrende variabler som for eksempel når de ble radikalisert. Hensikten med prosjektet er å øke kunnskapen om hvem som blir radikalisert til høyreekstremisme i Norge for derigjennom kunne iverksette mer målrettede tiltak mot sårbare grupper.