Abstract:
How widespread and deeply-imbedded are far-right ideologies and
organizations in Europe? How have right-wing extremist and populist
parties and movements fared? What are their historical roots, and what
is the basis of their continuing attraction?
Our volume of collected articles is intended to contribute to the ongoing
review of this problem and to suggest the shape that an effective posture
against the European radical right might take. It offers a follow-up to a
2011 book issued by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, entitled “Is Europe
on the ‘Right’ Path? Right-wing extremism and right-wing populism in
Europe.” The new anthology, like its predecessor, is being published
simultaneously in German and English. It is the concluding publication
of the German XENOS special program known as “Exit to Enter.” Between 2009 and 2013, the European Social Fund (ESF) and Germany’s Federal
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) provided grants to fund
projects designed to help people not only to exit the far-right milieu, but
also to enter the labor-market with some prospects for success. The
insights gathered over the course of the Exit to Enter program will be
discussed in this book.
While the volume includes studies of numerous countries, it focuses on
two regions of special concern: namely, Central/Eastern and Southern
Europe. In the latter region, the three countries chosen for analysis –
Greece, Italy, and Portugal – all have been hard hit by the current fi nancial
and economic crisis along with its devastating social impacts, but the
far- right camps in those countries differ strikingly from one another.
In addition to the country analyses, the volume contains an article offering
an overview of trends and structures of the radical right in Europe,
as well as several essays dealing with counter-strategies, historical experiences,
and perspectives on the confrontation with right-wing extremism.
Europe