Researching far right extremism—a transdisciplinary, lifeworld, and political culture perspective

Abstract

Far right extremism, understood as both an ideology of inequality and exclusion that manifests itself in attitudes and behavior as well as a heterogeneous movement, partially with affinity to violence, challenges and even threatens democratic societies. We argue that social science research on far right extremism contributes to strengthen democracy and civil society against this threat. By adopting a transdisciplinary, lifeworld (Lebenswelt) and political culture perspective, social science can contribute to this task and also help to overcome the fragmentation of the research field. In this article, we first provide an overview of current developments in social science research on far right extremism with a focus on Germany. Second, we outline five premises for such a transdisciplinary research perspective on far right extremism. Thus, we argue for adopting both a theoretical perspective built around the lifeword’ concept and methodological pluralism. Third, we propose four interrelated thematic clusters as a taxonomy of transdisciplinary research perspectives on far right extremism: a) Far right ideologies and knowledge constructions; b) Far right actors, organizations, and networks; c) Far right extremist discourses, (digital) media, and strategies in the public sphere; and d) political education, transfer, and implementation research regarding projects against far right extremism. Fourth, we argue that further institutionalization research on far right extremism is indispensable to make research on far right extremism more sustainable, to connect research with societal actors, and to utilize research results to strengthen society’s democratic resilience.