Suchergebnisse

This paper examines France as a microcosm of the rise of right-wing populism in the broader European context. The attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper is arguably, a reaction to the aggressive European secularism spreading throughout Europe that sees its true enemy in the growth of extremist and violent interpretations of Islam. With each terrorist attack, the popularity of anti-immigrant policies and ideologies increases. What ultimately drives movements like the French National Front are the concepts of monoculture and ethnic identity. This paper analyses the character of right-wing populist parties using the National Front as a case study. Such parties generate anxiety and resentment by fomenting an irrational fear of the 'other'. In this way, populists promote their identity on the basis of xenophobia, Islamophobia and practices of social exclusion against targeted out-groups. They position immigrants and foreigners as 'others', claiming they are a threat to native cultures and a source of social and economic strife. Ultimately, right-wing populism exerts a negative influence over the democratic framework in Europe and opposes the European Union's integration project. Right-wing populism attacks this supranational model because of its alleged inefficiency and departure from what it considers to be "authentic" European traditions and citizenship. In this context, understanding the rise of radical right-wing populist parties is extremely important for the future of Europe, democracy and multiculturalism. ; February 2019

The aim of this article is to analyse mutual contacts between and cooperation of the strongest extreme right-wing political parties in Central European countries, i.e. in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The article defines the extreme right, introduces its member parties in the region (those who had or still have parliamentary representation, namely the Association for the Republic – the Republican Party of Czechoslovakia, Hungarian Truth and Life Party, League of Polish Families and the Slovak National Party) and analyses what kind of bilateral or multilateral relations they have maintained. It explains the possibilities of and obstacles to the transnational cooperation of the Central European radical right. Special emphasis is placed on European Union structures and the question of whether EU membership has influenced the mutual contacts of these parties. The conclusion states that although radical right political parties have maintained mutual relations, these links have been rather limited. The main reason can be found in the very nature of the radical right: its ideology is based on nationalism, which means that these parties do not consider international cooperation beneficial. Furthermore, they often have contradictory interests and aims, and these parties are heterogeneous and prefer different strategies for transnational cooperation.

This book contends that far-right parties play pivotal roles in setting the tone of political debates, shaping the political party system, and structuring government policy. Increasingly, as national governments attempt to cope with new realities of greater global migration, strained welfare states, and threats of foreign terror, opportunities have opened for parties of the far right to position themselves strategically.

When confronted to data from European social Survey, there seems to be no link between the acceptance of immigration by public opinion in a sample of western Europe countries and the presence of extreme right parties in those countries. This contradicts various political analysis and some other data. The paper states this possible discrepancy and tries to find explanations ; Peer reviewed