Far-right reflexology: a periphery-to-centre approach for the study of the far-right
To address the problem of participant access, central in the study of the far-right, scholars of far-right mobilisations navigate between a methodological rock and a hard place. Either scholars produce in-depth qualitative accounts, putting their safety and ethical commitments at risk, or scholars s...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
Politics, religion & ideology
Year: 2023, Volume: 24, Issue: 3, Pages: 309-331 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | To address the problem of participant access, central in the study of the far-right, scholars of far-right mobilisations navigate between a methodological rock and a hard place. Either scholars produce in-depth qualitative accounts, putting their safety and ethical commitments at risk, or scholars study far-right mobilisations from a distance and produce limited externalist accounts that centre large surveys, quantitative studies and electoral analysis at the expense of granular detail. Inspired by the medical logics of reflexology, I propose one solution to this impasse that understands the impenetrable centres of far-right networks through their peripheries. I argue that far-right network peripheries—often more accessible to scholars—share personnel, information and resources with network centres, revealing much about these often secretive central organizational nodes. I advocate for deep qualitative work on the far-right (thus avoiding externalist pitfalls) but in the peripheries of far-right networks (thus avoiding safety and ethical risks). Refocusing on far-right peripheries opens a number of analytical doors that decentre the study of electoral politics and refocus on far-right embeddedness in civil society networks. |
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| ISSN: | 2156-7697 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Politics, religion & ideology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/21567689.2023.2279158 |