Beyond the Parties: Political Networks, Cultural Environments and the Transnationalization of the Far-Right Movement in Europe

In 1988, Klaus von Beyme used the term ‘political movement’ to describe the far-right. He demanded that research not be restricted to the analysis of parties and elections but focus more intensively on the cultural dimension. Nevertheless, the vast majority of research today is devoted to political parties, in particular to successful groups, and it neglects important developments in non-partisan organizations and sub-cultural groups.

However, beyond the rise of these parties in many European countries, a transnational far-right social movement has developed whose activities stretch far beyond ballots and parliaments. It consists of miscellaneous strands that differ in regard to certain ideological sub-areas, the political strategy they propagate and the tactics they use to obtain their goals, but draws on a collective identity.

As shown by data on far-right violence, ‘fear zones’ in public life and terrorist acts as the murders by the German group ‘National-Socialist Underground’ or the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, this movement has a large impact on the daily life of migrants and political opponents. In addition there are many organizations and less organized groups or social scenes that can be labeled as “cultural environments”. These are located at the flurry boundaries of the movement, but often serve as a kind of mobilization pool. Drawing on case studies highlighting different dimensions of the far-right movement, this paper develops an analytical model of far-right politics in Europe.