Radical Right Mobilization in Ukraine

This paper investigates the sources of support for radical right parties and paramilitary radical movements in Ukraine. Using an original survey conducted in May 2016, it tests whether support for radical right parties and movements is rooted in extreme levels of xenophobia vis-a-vis Russians more or less than in concerns about the support that the Russian minority receives from the state, opposition to language policies, fear of losing Ukrainian sovereignty, and economic anxiety. A similar survey from 2010 has shown that, in contrast to the conventional view, support for Svoboda was not driven by inter-group ethnic hostilities per se, but by perceived threats and anxieties about the character of the Ukrainian state. The objective of this paper is thus to shed light on the electoral profile of radical right voters and contrast it with supporters of paramilitary units with radical right ideologies, and in this way to complement the emerging scholarship on radical right parties in Eastern Europe.