Movement Parties of the Far Right
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In an era of traditional political party decline, this book explores a new phase of nativist mobilization, in which street politics plays an increasingly important role. Pietro Castelli Gattinara and Andrea Pirro delve into the hybrid and transitional nature of far-right movement parties, i.e. collective actors that contest elections like political parties and mobilize in the protest arena like social movements. Movement parties offer an exceptional object of study since they challenge the conventional distinction between institutional and non-institutional politics. Examining the 'production structure' of ten movement parties across nine European countries, the authors identify key factors that affect their engagement in protest activity. They address the organizational capacity, decision-making processes, and external mobilization of these collective actors using unique empirical material, including quantitative data on far-right protest mobilization spanning over a decade, protest network visualizations, and qualitative interviews with high-ranking officials.
The book provides fresh insights into how the far right spreads its influence and relates to non-institutional politics, making it essential reading for anyone concerned about the way in which nativist collective actors transform society from the ground up. A compelling study looking at the relationship between electoral politics and grassroots activism, Movement Parties of the Far Right illuminates the complex organizational and strategic choices underlying far-right mobilization.
Pietro Castelli Gattinara is Associate Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he holds the Chair in Digital Political Communication, and MSCA Fellow at Sciences Po. He earned his PhD in 2014 from the European University Institute and has held research and teaching positions at the Scuola Normale Superiore, the University of Oslo, and the University of Leicester. With Andrea Pirro, he directs the ECPR Summer School on 'Concepts and Methods for Research on Far-Right Politics'. His research focuses on political cleavages in Europe, far-right movements, and the relationship between media and collective action.
Andrea L. P. Pirro is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna. He is editor of the journal East European Politics and editor of the book series 'Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy'. With Pietro Castelli Gattinara, he directs the ECPR Summer School on 'Concepts and Methods for Research on Far-Right Politics'. His research focuses on far-right politics, populism, Euroscepticism, and democracy.