This special issue reiterates and deepens the interest of European Societies in the political sociology of Europe.
There has been so much talk of populism, extremism, radicalism and terrorism, that we feel the political ground shifting towards new areas of polarisation. There is no reason to be certain that this feeling is reliable but many people worry that there might be similarities with the 1930s and that the far-right gains support across democratic societies. Although fear represents very much the position of the beholder when it comes to social conditions, it does produce very serious and tangible consequences. This is why it is of the essence to know how the object of our apprehension has been formed and to what extent it is really one homogeneous entity rather than a galaxy of diverse political bodies. The vertical approach built via the micro, meso and macro level in this issue does precisely that, in order to add a crucial missing part to the understanding of the “far-right”, a term whose content has certainly evolved in the last decades.
For one thing, the main motivating category of all authoritarianism is naturally present across that content, i.e. a community bond that justifies a strong and urgent response. However, Internet has facilitated the formation of such bonds by decreasing the threshold of the critical mass for specialised communities and, consequently, by increasing their number and diversity. The wealth of factors that explain and consolidate these developments is laid out in this volume with great perspicacity. This panorama helps us understand that new fault lines develop in contemporary politics, where previously unthinkable combinations are now possible. The rejection of elite representation and the demand for giving power to the “people” seems to have become a cardinal point for the entire spectrum of ‘contentious politics’, from Neo-Nazi movements to radical leftist groups and to political environmentalism, while at the same time issues of race and migration radically set them against each other.
Transformations seem to happen as contentious movements arise and grow, leading the conservative petits bourgeois to merge with anticapitalists and eco-warriors and motivate each other towards demanding the establishment of direct democratic practices, as the recent “yellow vest” movement shows. One is tempted to wonder if the support for far-right parties is not to a great extent due to the timidity of the left when it comes to increasing direct political participation and ending non-proportional electoral systems. Admittedly, such an interpretation might stem from biased optimism in favour of open, multiracial societies and the obsolescence of nativism. On the other hand, people across the political spectrum seem to trust themselves today much more than they ever did and distrust by the same token all kinds of leading figures, including those who claim to represent them. That may mean that the social order necessary for authoritarianism is not any longer there. Although despise for Others can still fuel authoritarian tendencies for some hard-core supporters, the overwhelming majority seem unwilling to permanently surrender their individuality to some charismatic figure or be part of a disciplined pyramid. If that is so, the support for far-right movements and parties could paradoxically represent an untapped potential for the change of the political architecture of Europe towards deeper and more inclusive democracy.
I am indebted to Pietro Castelli Gattinara and Andrea Pirro who prepared this issue as guest-editors.