The New Euro-American Radical Right in Portugal: A Comparative Perspective

The New Euro-American Radical Right in Portugal: A Comparative Perspective

The most recent reports of the Portuguese Information and Security Services (SSI) have detected an increase in radical right activism throughout the Internet. This phenomenon can be verified not only in Portugal but also in many European countries and it is associated with the emergence of two innovative right wing radical streams: the NorthAmerican Alt-Right and the French-Italian Identitarian movement. The relevance of these two streams is evident in the Alt-Right?s prominence amidst the election of Donald Trump with Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon being a leading element of the Alt-Right and in the Identitarian success within Marine Le Pen's electoral base. The two streams have shown a strong capacity to generate popular culture among the youngest generations through memes, creative terminology, media-activism and online militancy. Starting from the concerns of the Institutions and Media, this research project aims to improve the knowledge of this growing right-wing radicalism in Portugal. Specifically, it aims at analysing the effects of the circulation, reception and reproduction of ideas and practices produced by the Alt-Right-Identitarian transatlantic interaction. The objective is to understand how this acceleration in the circulation of ideas and practices can lead to the development of a new radical right in Portugal in the same way it happened with other successful countries; that is, through the social movements of a young generation of militants with a high potential for setting the ideological directions of future right wing parties and mobilizations. This research project has three particular goals. The first one is to identify how deeply this Alt-Right-Identitarian interaction has entered the Portuguese right wing milieu (both radical and mainstream) and influenced its ideological traditional roots. The second one is to map the online participation of Portuguese militants in (inter)national networks, stimulated by the internet activism of the Alt-Right and the Identitarian milieu. The third one is to describe and explain the reproduction of political mobilization practices, both online and offline, promoted in Portugal by the more successful experiences coming from abroad. These goals will be reached through an in-depth Portuguese case study and its comparison with different countries in order to understand how successful or unsuccessful this Alt-Right-Identitarian influence is within their national radical right areas. The comparison between an already successful area (e.g. France, Italy, Austria) with an area in ongoing consolidation (e.g. Portugal and Spain) will permit to assess if and how this new Euro-American interaction can energize the creation of a Portuguese radical right operating as a more relevant political player. By gathering several experts, the research project intends to shed light on this important and yet academically undocumented phenomenon.

 

Estatuto: 
Participant entity
Financed: 
Yes
Entidades: 
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
Rede: 
ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (Proponent Entity)
Keywords: 

Radical right, Alt-Right, identitarianism, Portugal

The most recent reports of the Portuguese Information and Security Services (SSI) have detected an increase in radical right activism throughout the Internet. This phenomenon can be verified not only in Portugal but also in many European countries and it is associated with the emergence of two innovative right wing radical streams: the NorthAmerican Alt-Right and the French-Italian Identitarian movement. The relevance of these two streams is evident in the Alt-Right?s prominence amidst the election of Donald Trump with Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon being a leading element of the Alt-Right and in the Identitarian success within Marine Le Pen's electoral base. The two streams have shown a strong capacity to generate popular culture among the youngest generations through memes, creative terminology, media-activism and online militancy. Starting from the concerns of the Institutions and Media, this research project aims to improve the knowledge of this growing right-wing radicalism in Portugal. Specifically, it aims at analysing the effects of the circulation, reception and reproduction of ideas and practices produced by the Alt-Right-Identitarian transatlantic interaction. The objective is to understand how this acceleration in the circulation of ideas and practices can lead to the development of a new radical right in Portugal in the same way it happened with other successful countries; that is, through the social movements of a young generation of militants with a high potential for setting the ideological directions of future right wing parties and mobilizations. This research project has three particular goals. The first one is to identify how deeply this Alt-Right-Identitarian interaction has entered the Portuguese right wing milieu (both radical and mainstream) and influenced its ideological traditional roots. The second one is to map the online participation of Portuguese militants in (inter)national networks, stimulated by the internet activism of the Alt-Right and the Identitarian milieu. The third one is to describe and explain the reproduction of political mobilization practices, both online and offline, promoted in Portugal by the more successful experiences coming from abroad. These goals will be reached through an in-depth Portuguese case study and its comparison with different countries in order to understand how successful or unsuccessful this Alt-Right-Identitarian influence is within their national radical right areas. The comparison between an already successful area (e.g. France, Italy, Austria) with an area in ongoing consolidation (e.g. Portugal and Spain) will permit to assess if and how this new Euro-American interaction can energize the creation of a Portuguese radical right operating as a more relevant political player. By gathering several experts, the research project intends to shed light on this important and yet academically undocumented phenomenon.

 

Observações: 
NEAR by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under “PTDC/CPO-CPO/28748/2017” project.
Parceria: 
National network

NEAR

Coordenador Geral 
Riccardo Marchi (ISCTE-IUL)
Coordenador ICS 
Referência externa 
PTDC/CPO-CPO/28748/2017
Start Date: 
01/10/2018
End Date: 
30/09/2022
Duração: 
48 meses
Closed