A twitterbot for the Extreme Right Bibliography

I’m still collecting references for the next iteration of the Extreme Right Bibliography (but I am almost there. Honest to God. Really). Meanwhile, while I should have probably been doing other things, I’ve brushed up my fairly rudimentary R skills and taught myself how to write a similarly rudimentary twitterbot. If you are reading this,…

Three and a half Special Issues on (Right-Wing) populism. And then two more

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Political Science suffers from generational cycles of collective amnesia. For obvious reasons, (right-wing) populism is a hot topic again, and mature colleagues (cough) may bemoan the fact that they have seen it all before (at least twice). Let them moan. The wheel does get a little better each…

I looked up the AfD’s women’s organisation on Facebook. You will not believe what I found

I looked up the AfD's women's organisation on Facebook. You will not believe what I found 2

Women don’t like the AfD (and why would they?) The AfD is not particularly attractive for women. Survey data suggest that only one in three AfD voters is a woman. The new national executive has 14 memebers. Just two are of the female persuasion. This amounts to a cool 14%, even less than the female…

State of the radical right bibliography: Have references, will travel

The autumn/winter edition of the ever more Eclectic, ridiculously Erratic Bibliography on the Extreme Right in Western Europe is overdue well on its way, and it’s gonna be YUGE! Make it even YUGEr by sending me your candidates (books, chapters, journal articles) for inclusion. The geographical focus remains on (Western) Europe, but I am also…

Alexander Gauland’s election as party leader confirms the AfD’s shift to the very right

Alexander Gauland's election as party leader confirms the AfD's shift to the very right 4

At today’s AfD conference, Jörg Meuthen has been reelected as one of the the two co-chairs of the party. Although there was no other candidate, he garnered only 72% “yes” votes. Meuthen was once promoted by Petry because of his convenient market liberal profile, but quickly became friendly with the more radical elements. The election…

Ian Wachtmeister, founder of New Democracy, is dead

At the tender age of 84, Ian Wachtmeister has died. In the early 1990s, he co-founded New Democracy, a short-lived and at times rather entertaining Swedish Radical Right outfit. Wachtmeister’s Wikipedia bio is here. Later in life (quite late in his case), he was somewhat close to the Sweden Democrats. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"] Photo…

Seven conflicts within Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland Party (AfD) – Fear and loathing edition

Seven months before the election, what’s up with the Alternative für Deutschland? I’ve kept repeating this since the Alternative für Deutschland’s ascendancy in the polls began in late 2015: the AfD’s electoral popularity depends on a) steering away from open right-wing extremism, which has frustrated previous attempts to establish a right-wing populist party in Germany, and…

Interview with Diário de Notícias on the Nationalist International (or not)

Does the European Radical Right present a united front vis-a-vis the European Union, and is there a Trump effect that could further the cause of the Radical Right in Europe? I don’t think so (and here is an automated English translation). [contentcards url="http://www.dn.pt/mundo/interior/ue-debaixo-de-fogo-dentro-de-casa-no-ano-do-vai-ou-racha-5637863.html"]