The Rise of the Far Right

Social Media and the Far Right

Into the Stone Age: Politics Before Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok. Even Google and Youtube before that. Many people can no longer imagine their lives without the internet. Not only is it used for the spreading of important information, but it also is a big part of our social lives. Around 57% of the human population is active on one or more platforms of social media.   May I boldly assume this includes you, reader?  Since the early 1980’s, the internet has become an important medium. Not only does it allow people to stay in touch in a whole new way, but also in providing governments and news sites a platform to spread information, as well as letting citizens join in on...
Globalization

Early Globalization and the Italian Far-Right in the 1960s and 1970s

Why an historical focus? Timeline to illustrate the historical approachempty timeline - Google Search My attraction for the far-right, and more specifically my interest and curiosity to learn about the latter is unmeasurable. Therefore, I decided to tackle this challenge for the academic year. However, considering how broad the rise of the modern far-right is, and acknowledging the multiple ways to approach the latter made it quite hard to settle and focus only on one specific branch of the topic. For that specific reason, I decided to discuss the roots of the modern far-right. I firstly did so through a...
far-right observer

The populist personality: What character traits describe the far-right voter?

Photo by Nicholas Halland on unsplah.com In the last decade, there has been a vast increase of far-right parties across Europe. These parties were previously considered to be harmless and more of a background character. Whereas these parties nowadays have infiltrated coalition governments in many European countries. The driving force behind these parties is their voters, who helped to break through the glass ceiling. But what drives them? What drives these far-right voters to find solace in these far-right visions? The Big Five Personality Traits Explanations for party choice have typically centered on the voter's socio-demographic status, personal background, or...
Far Right in Time and Space

The end of Spanish ‘exceptionalism’: The rise of Vox in Spain.

Ever since Francisco Franco died in 1975, Spain has never seen a right-wing party gain the electoral success Vox did in 2018. They obtained a total of 11% of votes cast, gaining 12 seats in Andalucia's regional elections. Thus, bringing an end to Spain’s exceptionalism status after more than four decades. This was accelerated in 2019 when Vox broke into the congress of deputies securing 10.26% of the general election vote. One can only wonder how Spain's right-wing electorate is so strong considering its not so distant past under Franco’s dictatorship. Has Spain forgotten what it was like under his...
Social Media and the Far Right

Full-time Politician, Part-time Influencer: Social Media and the Dutch Far Right

During the last general Dutch elections in the spring of 2021, social media played a key role. Almost every political party tried to increase their social media visibility through Instagram posts, Facebook ads, and Twitter. This in order to spread their political message and reach out to potential new voters. However, one Dutch party seems to have 'won' the social media game: the far right 'Forum for Democracy' and its flamboyant frontman, Thierry Baudet. The brand 'Baudet' Baudet reading a book in the Dutch House of Representatives. ©BRUNOPRESS Ever since the beginning of the party in 2016, 'Forum for Democracy...
far-right observer

Why Do European Women Vote For Far-right Parties?

Far-right protesters demanding to stop migration in order to keep women safe and keep their rights in Dresden, Germany. Photo from commons.wikimedia.org In the past decade in elections all over Europe, the proportion of far-right parties has increased enormously. Parties like the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany or the Rassemblement National in France whose values are strongly racist, xenophobic, and anti-feminist experienced unprecedented popularity. Some of these parties were founded only in the past decade and some others like the Front National have a long history in European politics. Something that has changed strikingly is that not only men are...
Social Media and the Far Right

About us: Social Media and the Far Right

Featured Image retrieved from theconstantrevolution.com Hello and welcome to all readers, We would like to welcome you to our blog. This blog will take a deeper dive into the connection of the rise of the far-right parties in Europe and social media. We are four students from Maastricht University, Macy Morris, Julia Roig, Zoë Schneider, and Sofia Cancino Corral, in the Netherlands and are in our second year of the bachelor’s program of European Studies. Social media is a new phenomenon which politics have not been exposed to for very long. Social media has reshaped the way our society works....
Globalization

PEGIDA: Disadvantaged through Globalization?

PEGIDA supporters in Dresden © Sean Gallup/​Getty Images PEGIDA was started through a Facebook page called Friedliche Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (Peaceful Europeans against the Islamization of the West) by Lutz Bachmann in October 2014. Soon after it, it came to weekly protests in Dresden, Germany that over time attracted an increasing number of participants. The movement used the same chant “We are the People” that was used during the Monday demonstrations that took place between 1989 and 1990 in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This blog post will – matching the theme of our blog – focus on...
Far Right in Time and Space

Sverigedemokraterna: how to label them and why?

Jimmie Åkesson - Leader of SD (theconversation.com, 2018) How did a party go from a 2,93% result in the 2006 Swedish general election to reaching as far up as 17,53% in the latest general election, in 2018? That is the principal question being asked by academics when reflecting on the rise of the Swedish far-right political party, the Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats). SD's Establishment and Growth The party itself has existed since early 1988, yet its rise into prominence on the Swedish political stage only began taking place towards the beginning of the 2010's. How could this be? What role...
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