The Politics of the Far Right in Europe and the Americas

Overview

This module has been specifically designed as a group based module. Each student will be allocated randomly to one of eight far right political parties/groups. Each group will be responsible for preparing and delivering a group presentation on their given political party and in co-writing and delivering a written project on their particular party. There is also a single authored assignment to complete.

Much has been written in the media about the far right in recent years. Moreover, no other political family has received as much attention in academic texts as the far right family. However, what constitutes the far right today? Is there a single definition of the far right that can be applied to all parties?. This module addresses this issue and argues that the term far right is too wide a catch-all concept when dealing with the array of forces and groups who lie to the right of centre right parties. This module calls for greater precision when it comes to the labelling of such parties. There are certainly a variety of labels to choose from: radical right, radical right populist , right-wing extremist, neo-Nazi and neo-Fascist, ultra nationalist, anti-immigrant and even patriotic. So, this module questions the nature of the far right in the 2020s. Much will depend on the context, past histories and current issues. This module has been designed around two parts. The first provides the context to the far right, charts its evolution and development in Europe and the Americas, analyses the academic literature on ‘far right’ ideology around the core concepts of nativism, authoritarianism and welfare chauvinism. It explores voting patterns, group membership, party finances and foreign policy positions. It also addresses the issues of far right-violence and terrorism. In the second part the eight student groups will present their party and this will be followed by a group Qand A involving all eight groups. The party groups that will be examined and analysed will change on a year by year basis but countries under observation include, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.


The module will:
Introduce you to the growing field of research into the politics of the far right and radical right populist politics in modern Europe and the Americas: It will;
• offer you the opportunity to obtain an in-depth understanding of the leading far right/radical right/populist parties in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and the United States – the exact countries will depend on political developments;
• assist you in defining the ingredients of the far right, populism, fascism in what is a very crowded field
• enable you to acquire an in depth appreciation of far right ‘ideology’ and which votes are attracted to such parties;
• analyse and debate the ingredients of populism
• provide an understanding of why some parties are electorally more successful than other far right parties;
• discuss the issue of right-wing motivated violence and right-wing terrorism;
• encourage you to engage in open and free discussion and pursue further investigation into this area of politics;
• allow you to improve their research, teamwork, time management, oral and written communication skills.

For each tutorial, students will be required to read two compulsory texts (typically journal articles) and then to prepare their answers to a list of questions set out in the module handbook. Students will discuss their answers in groups during each tutorial.

Learning Objectives

On completion of this module students you will have acquired:
1. A familiarity with the evolution of the far right/populist right in Europe and the Americas.
2. A full awareness of competing and complementary definitions of the 'far right'
3. An understanding of the leading forces of the far right in countries that vary from year to year but can included, Argentina, Brazil, Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States.
4. An in depth knowledge of who votes for far right and populist parties and also, who joins such parties.
5. A thorough understanding of far right ideology.
6. An appreciation of how how such parties emerge and develop and how they sustain themselves
7. An ability to apply conceptual knowledge of the operation of far right politics not just to these eight cases under investigation in this module, but also to other far right parties across the globe.
8. An awareness of the theme of right-wing violence and terrorism and the debates surrounding them.

Skills

1: Intellectual skills
Students will be encouraged to improve their ability to assess and extract relevant information from lectures and secondary material, engage in discussions with the seminar leader and fellow students, and develop arguments and critical positions while dealing with this fascinating area of research. Students should be able of:
Managing & Prioritizing Knowledge: identify relevant and subject-specific knowledge, sources and data; manage such information in an independent manner
Analytical Thinking: identify, understand, interpret and evaluate relevant subject-specific arguments made by others; construct independent arguments
Critical & Independent Thinking: ability to think critically and construct one’s own position in relation to existing and ongoing debates in the field
2. Professional and career development skills
Students should develop their oral communications skills and ability to contribute to discussions and debates, hold informed conversations about the issues discussed, and improve their presentation skills. They should also enhance the following skills:
Teamwork: ability to work with others in a team, negotiate conflicts and recognize different ways of learning
Diversity: ability to acknowledge and be sensitive to the range of cultural differences present in the learning environment
Self-Reflexivity: ability to reflect on one’s own progress and identify and act upon one’s own development needs with respect to life-long learning and career development
Time Management: ability to negotiate diverse and competing pressures; cope with stress; and achieve a work / life balance
3. Transferable & Key skills
Students will be encouraged to improve their ability to set objectives, develop their time management skills, and develop independence, self-confidence, and self-reliance in their academic and professional work.
4. IT skills
Students will thus be challenged to improve their e-learning skills, and get acquainted with the use of e-learning tools and to use electronic sources for study and research purposes. Students are also expected to produce a professional, word-processed document with accompanying bibliography and footnotes.

Assessment

Attendance at all 10 sessions. Necessary for the group dynamics behind the module
The assessment structure for this module is as follows:
Coursework Essay 1 (individual)
Coursework GROUP PROJECT
Group Presentation