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21. Factsheet: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Founded in 1925 by K.B Hedgewar, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization. In 2020, RSS had almost 585,000 members and over 57,000 branches or sakhas, including a trade union wing (Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh), women’s wing (Rashtriya Sevika Samiti), student wing (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad), and economic wing (Swadeshi Jagaran Manch). The Print, an Indian news outlet, estimates that 3 out of 4 ministers in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are members of the RSS, including the current Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Topic:
Far Right, Hindutva, Hindu Nationalism, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

22. Factsheet: Vox Party

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The VOX Party is a far-right, nationalist political party in Spain that advocates discriminatory policies against Spanish Muslims and Muslim immigrants. VOX has achieved significant political success in regional and national elections since its 2013 founding, while building a political narrative that Spain must be “reconquered” from Muslims again—a reengineering of the centuries-old mythology of Reconquista. The party’s political messaging employs derogatory rhetoric against Muslims broadly and Muslim women in particular, while declaring a “civilizational clash” between Spain and Islam.
Topic:
Nationalism, Discrimination, Islamophobia, Far Right, and VOX Party
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

23. Factsheet: Hogar Social

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hogar Social is a right-wing Spanish social and political movement created in Madrid in 2014, now with chapters in other cities including Toledo, Granada, and Zaragoza. The movement’s leader, Melisa Domínguez Ruiz, previously worked in the right-wing political party Republican Social Movement (Movimiento Social Republicano, or MSR). Hogar Social members have expressed xenophobic sentiments, including linking crime and immigration. Muslims have been a particular target and in 2016, Hogar Social took part in a violent action against Madrid’s main mosque.
Topic:
Social Movement, Far Right, Political Parties, and Hogar Social
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

24. Factsheet: Reconquista Trope

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The historical myth of the Reconquista has been one of the most recurrent tropes used by far-right parties in Spain. The controversial concept—contested by many scholars— has been reappropriated, misinterpreted, and misused to build political bases and campaigns on anti-Muslim hate, conspiracy theories, and white nationalism in Spain and across Europe.
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Conspiracy Theory, and Reconquista
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

25. Factsheet: Norwegian Progress Party

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet, FRP) is a far-right anti-Muslim political party in Norway. Established in 1973, FRP joined government coalitions with the conservative party in 2013 and 2017, but left the governing coalition in January 2020.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, Muslims, and Norwegian Progress Party
Political Geography:
Europe and Norway

26. Factsheet: Louie Gohmert

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Louie Gohmert is a Republican representative from Texas with a long history of anti-Muslim rhetoric, including claims that “terror babies” were being raised to destroy the American “way of life.” Gohmert has connections with prominent anti-Muslim organizations, including ACT for America, and associations with individuals in the transatlantic anti-Muslim movement.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Republican Party
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

27. Factsheet: Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie, or SPD) is a far-right political party in the Czech Republic that was established in 2015. Founded as an anti-elitist and anti-Muslim populist party, SPD cooperates with other far-right and anti-Muslim European political parties and is a member of the Identity and Democracy (I&D) group in the European Parliament.
Topic:
Populism, Far Right, Political Parties, European Parliament, Muslims, and Svoboda a Přímá Demokracie (SPD)
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

28. Factsheet: The League (Lega, Lega Nord, The Northern League)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Northern League (Lega Nord) is a far-right political party in Italy that rebranded itself as the League (Lega) in the run-up to the 2018 general election. Umberto Bossi established the party in 1991 as a federation of six regional parties in north and north-central Italy and it was led by Roberto Maroni until 2013. Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, the League amplified anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments. In southern Italy, the League recently established a sister party named Us with Salvini and ran for election under the title “Salvini Premier.” In the 2018 general election, the League was the third-largest party and formed a coalition with the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the Democratic Party (PD). After the 2019 European Parliament election, it became the largest party and co-founded the the anti-Muslim and far-right parliamentary group Identity and Democracy.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Northern League (Lega Nord)
Political Geography:
Europe and Italy

29. Factsheet: Counter-Jihad Movement

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The self-described “Counter-Jihad Movement” (CJM) is a network of European and North American anti-Muslim movements, institutions, political parties, authors, bloggers, and activists who claim that ‘Western civilization’ is “under attack” by Islam. While CJM is an informal network, participants in the movement have used the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)’s annual Human Dimension and Implementation Meeting (HDIM) to disseminate its anti-Muslim ideology in European and North American policy circles annually since 2007. Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik cited numerous CJM members as inspiration for his deadly attacks in 2011.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Networks, Far Right, and Counter-Jihad Movement (CJM)
Political Geography:
Europe

30. Factsheet: Gates of Vienna

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Gates of Vienna is an international far-right, anti-Muslim blogging website established in 2004 by the United States-based blogger Edward S. May and his wife. The website features the work of hard-line anti-Muslim writers and is a central player in the counter-jihad movement within the United States and across Europe. The blog has served as a platform for Fjordman, a Norwegian anti-Muslim writer, whose views were the ideological inspiration of Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik.
Topic:
Ideology, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Website
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America