The Contemporary Euro-American Far Right and the New White Nationalism

我的研究将当代极右翼视为一场国际社会运动。它探索了欧洲和北美不同极右翼团体共同的叙事，这使他们越来越多地将自己视为一个共同的国际政治项目的一部分。它还分析了他们所采用的组织基础设施、政治网络、战略和战术。现有的这一领域的学术研究往往侧重于个别极右翼团体或特定国家。然而，我的研究表明，这些组织现在拥有如此广泛的国际网络，以至于人们怀疑是否还存在所谓的“英国人”(或“德国人”或“美国人”)这样的极右派。此外，极右翼的许多文献基本上都是描述性的，专注于根据他们公开宣称的政治信仰和政策偏好，将不同的群体归入明确的类别(例如，“法西斯主义”、“新纳粹”、“民粹主义”)。这些方法没有回答当前极右翼激进主义在国际上死灰复燃的核心和政治紧迫问题，即是什么推动了当前极右翼激进主义的国际复兴，以及不同国家的极右翼团体如何相互作用。我的研究通过提供一种新的方式来概念化“极右翼”，并使用创新的研究方法来描绘这一复杂而不断演变的现象，从而解决了这些差距。它将极右翼视为一场“反革命”政治运动，团结在一起的共同愿望是阻止或扭转社会变革的进程，并恢复一种神话般的、浪漫化的过去观念。这是唐纳德·特朗普的“让美国再次伟大”和英国退欧阵营的“夺回控制权”等热门口号所表达的愿望。这是“极右”与寻求维持社会和政治现状的“主流”或“保守”右翼，以及旨在实现社会转型和政治解放的“进步”左翼的最终区别。我的研究使用大数据来规划极右翼政治网络和运动，如今这些网络和运动通常是在网上组织的，并将其与更传统的研究方法相结合，如档案分析、对极右翼活动人士及其反对者的深入采访，以及对示威和集会等事件的观察。这种创新的方法组合使我能够理解极右翼团体之间的意识形态和物质联系，以及导致个人活动家参与这些运动的特殊焦虑和担忧。这一奖学金的主要目的将是在我的博士研究的基础上再接再厉，我的博士研究重点是国际极右翼运动的一个特定方面：特定的伊斯兰或穆斯林对“西方文明”的威胁的想法，已经成为欧洲和北美不同极右翼团体的统一主题。在研究金期间，我将通过向同行评议的学术期刊提交至少两篇文章，在会议和研讨会上展示我的工作，并与种族平等、民权和人权领域的实践者培养现有的工作关系，来传播我的博士研究的主要成果。我还将利用这笔奖学金为一项新的博士后研究项目制定资助方案，这项研究与我的博士项目相关，但又不同。这项新的研究将探索极右翼政治、男子气概和“Alt Right”内部暴力以及相关运动之间的关系。

My research examines the contemporary far right as an international social movement. It explores the narratives shared by different far-right groups in Europe and North America, which enable them increasingly to see themselves as part of a common, international political project. It also analyses the organisational infrastructure, political networks, strategies and tactics that they employ. Existing scholarship in this area tends to focus on individual far-right groups or specific countries. However, my research suggests that these groups now have such extensive international networks that it is questionable whether there is any longer such a thing as the 'British' (or 'German' or 'American') far right. Furthermore, much of the literature on the far right is essentially descriptive, preoccupied with placing different groups into definitive categories (e.g. 'fascist', 'neo-Nazi', 'populist') based on their professed political beliefs and policy preferences. These approaches do not answer the central and politically urgent questions of what is driving the current international resurgence of far-right activism, and how far-right groups in different countries are interacting with one another.My research addresses these gaps by providing a new way of conceptualising the 'far right' and by using innovative research methods to map out this complex and evolving phenomenon. It approaches the far right as a 'counter-revolutionary' political movement, united by a shared desire to arrest or reverse processes of social change and recuperate a mythic, romanticised idea of the past. This is the desire expressed in popular slogans such as Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' and the Brexit campaign's 'Take Back Control'. It is what ultimately distinguishes the 'far' right from the 'mainstream' or 'conservative' right, which seeks to maintain the social and political status quo, and from the 'progressive' left, which aims at social transformation and political emancipation. My research uses big data to map out far-right political networks and movements, which today are often organised online, combining this with more traditional research methods such as archival analysis, in-depth interviews with far-right activists and their opponents, and observation of events such as demonstrations and rallies. This innovative combination of methods allows me to understand both the ideological and material links between far-right groups, as well as the particular anxieties and concerns that are leading individual activists to participate in these movements.The principal aim of this fellowship will be to build on my PhD research, which focused on one particular aspect of the international far-right movement: the idea of a specifically Islamic or Muslim threat to 'Western civilisation' that has come to serve as a unifying theme for different far-right groups across Europe and North America. During the period of the fellowship I will disseminate the key findings from my PhD research by submitting at least two articles to peer-reviewed academic journals, presenting my work at conferences and workshops, and cultivating existing working relationships with practitioners from the race equality, civil rights and human rights fields. I will also use the fellowship to develop a funding proposal for a new piece of postdoctoral research, related to but distinct from my PhD project. This new piece of research will explore the relationship between far-right politics, masculinity and violence within the 'Alt Right' and related movements.