The global rise of the far right constitutes one of the biggest socio-political challenges of this moment and calls for more research into what makes far-right offerings so attractive to an increasing number of people. Unlike a number of other disciplines, however, anthropology has made only limited contributions to the study of the far right. In explaining this scarcity, it is often argued that for an anthropologist it is undesirable if not impossible to conduct research with people she cannot “sympathize." Importantly, this argument continues to be made even though anthropologists have long engaged with claims and practices considered disagreeable if not despicable.
Drawing on a long-term ethnographic fieldwork with Italian, Polish, and Hungarian youth far-right militants, I wish to demonstrate the importance of anthropological engagements with the far right. I will discuss why a study of far-right movements constitutes an important addition to the scholarship on social movements which to date has tended to focus predominantly on “progressive” causes and “sympathetic” political actors. In presenting a few case studies, I will reflect on what insights ethnographic research can offer about why people join far-right movements and why they remain active in them. Finally, I will discuss the wider implications of this research by discussing what we can learn about political mobilization and social movements and also what such a study tells us about the discipline of anthropology, its strengths and weaknesses.
Departmental Seminar Series Michaelmas Term 2024
3.15pm, Fridays of Weeks 1, 3-8.
In person in the Lecture Room, 64 Banbury Road.
Convened by Alpa Shah and Elisabeth Hsu
Week 2 is replaced by the Marett Lecture delivered by Professor Deborah James
