Right-wing extremism in Europe and Norway attacks

Any impact?

Questions:

1. The arrested man, even if he acted alone, was influenced by the ideas of the extreme right. If it turns out to be true do you think it will impact somehow the extreme right scene in Europe, and how?

2. You can read now some headlines like – The extreme right is on the rise in Europe. Do you agree or you don’t, and why?

Answers:

Jean-Yves Camus, Political Analyst, Research Fellow, Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques(IRIS)

1. It seems that the man had been a member of Norway’s main populist right party, the FRP, which is considered mainstream there. The FRP calls for further restrictions on immigration and is against multiculturalism, especially against Islam. However the FRP is not a neo-nazi party and what is says about Muslims is not worse than what many prominent politicians from the mainstream Right say in Europe. The real problem lie there: Islamophobia is now so much part of the political mainstream that at first, in Norway and elsewhere, everybody thought it was a Muslim fundamentalist attack.

The FRP had the right attitude, that consisted in acknowledging the suspect had belonged to their ranks. But its image will be damaged, as will be that of similar parties in Scandinavia. It should be reminded that there will be general elections in Denmark before November 12 and the Dansk Folkeparti is strong there. It is interesting to note that the French Front national immediately issued statements saying it was fearing the media would blame the Extreme-Right as a whole and use what happened in Norway as a political weapon.

2. I only partly agree. The neo-Nazis are no more than a sect, a political cult with no impact. The parties which are successful now are Right-Wing populists with an anti-globalisation; anti-Islam and xenophobic agenda and in many ways, the mainstream Conservative Right has shifted to the Right, especially on the issue of multiculturalism, in order to retain voters to switch to Extreme-Right parties.

Also there are countries where the E. R. is declining: the Polish LPR has rapidly lost its impact, so did Romania Mare. The Slovak SNS is rather marginal and there are no such parties in the Czech Rep. On the other hand, we have the case of Hungary where not only does Jobbik rise, but the Orban government is really a bothering case of mainstream Conservatism using far-right ideology and tactics.

Matthew Feldman, Lecturer in Twentieth Century History, School of Social Sciences, University of Northampton

1. Hopefully, if it is the work of a lone wolf, far-right extremist, one thing that might come of this terrible tragedy in Norway is a greater appreciation of the potential for far-right violence in Europe. There have been numerous cases – mostly averted in time since David Copeland here in the UK in 1999 – of far-right extremists turning to violence across Europe in this century. (In fact, the research unit I direct, Radicalism and New Media, helped to publish a report just last month on right-wing extremism entitled ‘Lone Wolves: Myths or Reality? (this is accessible via http://www.radicalism-new-media.org/?p=348).

My own view is that the internet has created a space for potential dissemination, planning and organisation of far-right atrocities. A recent text I wrote (also on the RNM website) has dubbed this use of the internet by such hate and extremist groups ‘broadband terrorism’. In short, we need to be far more aware of the shadowy activities of right-wing extremists, particularly with the rise of ‘populist racism’ in Europe this century.

I don’t think the danger of ‘copycats’ is as serious amongst the far right as for jihadi Islamism, though this may be used nonetheless as a kind of ‘recruiting tool’ for members of the violent and revolutionary right across Europe.

2. Yes I do. I think this is partly to do with economic recession and demographic change in Europe, but likely has more to do with the successful reinvention of many far right groups as populist nationalist like Belgian VB, Lega Nord and so on. Individuals from these groups banded together to form SIOE, which looks very much in the frame as being connected to Breivik. They are anti-Muslim ideologues like Geert Wilders and others.

Ruth Wodak, Distinguished Professor, Chair in Discourse Studies, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University

1. It is impossible to predict these events or their consequences and impact. They have certainly very complex reasons which are also context-dependent, and there are manifold interpretations for this, ranging from the possibility of the perpetrator(s) being some ‚crazy’ loners; or that this could have been very well planned by larger local or national or transnational networks. We will have to wait what the Norwegian investigators find. Thus, there is no way I can reply to your first question in any sensible or scientific way.

2. The extreme right has been on the rise since several years; there is no doubt about this. Please have a look at our ‚open letter from the Forum of Concerned Citizens’ (on my homepage), our contributions on Opendemocracy (UK) in May 2011, Chris Bowlby’s excellent BBC 4 (Radio) Broadcast Documentary (Driving on the Right) from spring this year, etc.

Christopher Husbands, Reader Emeritus, Department of Sociology, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Until more information is available about the perpetrator of this atrocity, I am inclined to think that this is a once-off event, though I may of course be wrong.

In terms of electoral politics, I do not think that this event will have an obvious effect on the support for mass-appeal parties.