Sarah Harrison and Michael Bruter, Mapping extreme right ideology: An empirical geography of the European extreme right, reviewed by Elisabeth Carter

Carter, Elisabeth

Abstract

As the title suggests, this book sets out to position European extreme right parties within their ideological space. To do this, it first identifies two dimensions that structure this space, namely an ‘authoritarian’ dimension and a ‘negative identity’ dimension. The former pits ‘reactionary’ discourse (exemplified by references to a golden age, devotion to the family and community, and notions of great national destiny) against ‘repressive’ discourse (characterized by a strong state, strict obedience to authority and to law and order). The latter contrasts a ‘xenophobic’ conception of national identity, which emphasizes the virtues of the in-group or the Volk, and differences and threats of the out-group, with a ‘populist’ conception, which exalts the ordinary people and attacks the established parties for being corrupt and out of touch with the people. The two dimensions intersect to give rise to four quadrants or ‘pillars’, and hence to four types of extreme right parties: ‘xenophobic reactionary’, ‘xenophobic repressive’, ‘populist reactionary’ and ‘populist repressive’. Twenty-five extreme right parties from 17 European party systems are then placed within the conceptual map.

• Journal Article Type: Book Review
• Online Publication Date: Feb 27, 2014
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Deposit Date: Jun 6, 2023
• Journal: Party Politics
• Print ISSN: 1354-0688
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-3683
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 302-303
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068813519693
• Keywords: Sociology and Political Science