Saturday, March 15, 2014
Executive (Omni Shoreham)
The Internet is assuming a growing importance for civil society organizations, including the radical ones, for the freedom it offers to express political claims and for organizing mobilization and strategies, both nationally and transnationally. In this paper, by focusing on six European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK) and the USA, we shall explore the new tactics of the extreme right in the context of transnational (European) politics, namely its actual degree and forms of ‘transnationalization’ (in terms of mobilization, european issues, targets, activities and organizational contacts) and the potential role of the internet in this process. By combining qualitative and quantitative deriving from 50 interviews conducted with the representatives of the main important organizations in the selected countries and a systematic web content analysis of 336 right-wing websites, we will illustrate the use of the web by different types of right-wing groups (both political parties and not party organizations) for several functions related to their transnationalization and underline the main differences and similarities. How and how much are extreme right movements able to adapt their tactics to the changes brought about by the processes of European integration and globalization, including the use of new ICTs for several different organizational purposes? In particular, how much are they involved in transnational/European politics (and what is their position toward it), in terms of issues, mobilization, activities, targets and organizational contacts? And, what is the role of the Internet on the transnationalization of the right-wing community?
