«Strangle the tiger». Radicalization and growth of political violence in European Far-Right
the cases of Greece and United Kingdom
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46661/revintpensampolit.10947Keywords:
far-right, radicalization, political violence, violent protestAbstract
This article analyzes from an interdisciplinary perspective the processes of violent radicalization in which the far-right is immersed, combining the critique of political economy, especially due to the windows of opportunity generated by the current capitalist crisis, with elements from political science and of behavioral sociology. First, the article studies the transformation of social norms that legitimize the use of political violence in the far-right as a legitimate means (and as an end) from a macro, meso and micro perspective, as well as the different degrees of violent radicalization. Next, political violence in the contemporary far-right is reviewed, focusing on violent protest. The third section comparatively analyzes two cases that, although presenting differences between them, are characterized by the highest rates of far-right political violence in Europe: Greece and the United Kingdom. All of this accounts for the transformation of the social bases of the hegemonic radical right towards more extreme positions closer to classical fascism in terms of ideology, methods and objectives.
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