The Radical Right in Europe: An Overview E-Book

Michael Minkenberg

• Herausgeber: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

European challenges call for European responses. The spread of extremist and xenophobic attitudes and the proliferation of right-wing political movements are challenges confronting all of Europe. This book provides a conceptual framework for comparing right-wing radicalism in Europe and offers country-specific data on the right-wing radicalism and extremism. It constitutes a solid base of knowledge on the current situation in ten European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). Key topics include the success stories of right-wing radical political parties, the strength of their movements, the existence of sub-cultural milieus of the radical right and of corresponding factors that influence the rise of the radical right in Europe.

Leseprobe

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in theDeutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic datais available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

© 2011 E-Book-Ausgabe (EPUB)

Responsible: Dr. Orkan KösemenProduction editor: Christiane RaffelCover design: Nadine HumannCover illustration: AFP/Getty Images, Attila KisbenedekTypesetting: Katrin Berkenkamp, Designwerkstatt 12, Bielefeld

ISBN : 978-3-86793-066-6

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.org/publications

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/verlag

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Titel

Impressum

Preface

1 Introduction

2 Concepts and Contexts

Terms and concepts: research on the radical right

Illustration: varieties of the radical right in Germany and Poland

Patterns of variation and contextual factors

3 Country Case: Austria

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

4 Country Case: Belgium

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

5 Country Case: Denmark

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

6 Country Case: France

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

7 Country Case: Hungary

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

8 Country Case: Italy

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

9 Country Case: The Netherlands

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

10 Country Case: Sweden

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

11 Country Case: Switzerland

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

12 Country Case: United Kingdom

Overview-demographic profile of the country

Political performance of the radical right

Socio-political environment of the radical right

Current state of data concerning the radical right

13 Comparison and Conclusion

Endnotes

References

Preface

European challenges call for European responses. The spread of extremist and xenophobic attitudes and the proliferation of right-wing political movements are challenges confronting all of Europe. These countries can learn from each other as they seek ways of dealing with such extremism. This applies particularly to Germany, where the public debate has paid far too little attention to the successful strategies and experiences of other countries. As Europe becomes more unified, sharing knowledge about existing strategies for combating right-wing radicalism and attitudes in the neighboring countries becomes increasingly important for every European country.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung is contributing to this European debate. It has commissioned Professor Michael Minkenberg, who is one of the leading experts in this field, to write a comparative report. The report provides a conceptual framework for comparing right-wing radicalism in Europe and includes country specific data on the right-wing radicalism and extremism. His report constitutes a solid base of knowledge on the current situation in ten European countries. It gives us an overview of right-wing radical political party successes, the strength of their movements, the existence of sub-cultural milieus of the radical right and of corresponding factors that influence the rise of the radical right in Europe.

The selected countries in this report vary in terms of democratic systems and immigration policies. Austria, Germany and Switzerland are consensus democracies (which means there are many political and institutional checks and balances) that have restrictive immigration policies. Belgium and the Netherlands are in the same category of consensus democracies but the former pursues a moderate immigration policy whereas the latter has until recently implemented an open immigration policy when it comes to immigration control. In contrast, the study examines Great Britain and France with majoritarian systems with little checks and balances. But the two countries differ in their immigration policies-Great Britain’s is considered to be moderate, the one in France is open. Denmark, Italy and Sweden have mixed democratic systems: the executive is restricted by a certain degree by political or institutional factors. Nevertheless, all three employ different immigration policies. Denmark is restrictive, Italy moderate and Sweden is open. Altogether this selection provides us with diverse country cases where the regulation of the immigration flow varies and the number of political actors that influence decisions is different. Both factors do have an impact on how right-wing extremism is addressed by mainstream politics and society.

This report will be followed by further research. The focus will on how the selected countries are combating right-wing radicalism at the national level. The main interest of the Bertelsmann Stiftung is: to push forward a European exchange about successful strategies against right-wing extremism and to help Germany learn from its neighbors in a field vital to the stability of democracy. We are much obliged for Professor Minkenberg’s contribution to this goal.

Ulrich Kober

Orkan Kösemen

1 Introduction

The purpose of this report is not to provide a novel piece of research for an academic or wider audience but to offer country-specific data and a few conceptual thoughts and contextual comparative data on the radical right in Europe, which are needed in order to arrive at ideas of how to manage analytically and confront politically its various manifestations. What are the central dimensions of the challenge at hand?