Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

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

Carter, Elisabeth

Authors



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.

Citation

Carter, E. (2014). Sarah Harrison and Michael Bruter, Mapping extreme right ideology: An empirical geography of the European extreme right, reviewed by Elisabeth Carter. Party Politics, 20(2), 302-303. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068813519693

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