Vol. 2, No. 2 "Teaser"
Similarity Heuristics in the Indian Far Right: How the RSS Obscures Its Operational Scale
We are pleased to announce the latest publication in the Journal of Right-Wing Studies titled Similarity Heuristics in the Indian Far Right: How the RSS Obscures Its Operational Scale by University of Western Australia political scientist Felix Pal. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is one of the world's largest far-right organizations, known for its disciplined public image and Hindu nationalist agenda. This article investigates how the RSS masks its extensive operations through a crafted public image of unity and discipline. Pal reveals the dual structure of the RSS, with the visible cadre RSS and the managerial RSS, which coordinates a vast network of affiliates. This approach allows the RSS to maintain a façade of unity while managing diverse operations. Read the full article here.
The Menace of Globalism: Merwin K. Hart and Nationalist Conservatism, 1930–1960
This newly published article examines the role of Merwin K. Hart in shaping American conservatism in the mid-20th century. Through meticulous research, the article reveals how Hart, an operative and propagandist, significantly influenced the postwar conservative movement with his blend of nativism, antisemitism, anti-interventionism, and economic libertarianism. King's College (Cambridge) PhD candidate Alex McPhee-Browne critically analyzes Hart's organization, the New York State Economic Council, later the National Economic Council, illuminating its essential role in disseminating conservative ideologies during an era of liberal dominance.
McPhee-Browne explains Hart’s impact, challenging the prevailing view of early opponents of the New Deal as principled libertarians untainted by bigotry. Instead, it presents a complex picture of nationalist conservatives as instrumental in crafting the ideology that would later define postwar conservatism. McPhee-Browne's work is a significant contribution to our understanding of the historical underpinnings of contemporary political discourse—essential context for comprehending the ideological evolutions within American conservatism.
Vol. 2, No. 1 (2024), The Curse of Relevance: Challenges Facing Right-Wing Studies
We are pleased to announce the release of the first Special Issue of the Journal of Right-Wing Studies (JRWS). The Curse of Relevance: Challenges Facing Right-Wing Studies arrives at a critical moment when far-right movements are gaining prominence globally. The issue, guest-edited by A.J. Bauer, Isis Giraldo, and Clara Juarez Miro, includes essays by scholars on the difficulties facing those who study and teach “the right” as well as original empirical articles that examine methodological and theoretical dilemmas. With this issue, we aim to foster dialogue, collaboration, and support among researchers and the public. We invite you to read and engage with the contributions, which are available now on eScholarship. Please find the content of the issue below.
Introduction
- The Curse of Relevance: Challenges Facing Right-Wing Studies, A.J. Bauer, Isis Giraldo, and Clara Juarez Miro
Articles
- “Remove Kebab”: The Appeal of Serbian Nationalist Ideology among the Global Far Right, Monica Hanson-Green and Hikmet Karčić
- The Gab Project: The Methodological, Epistemological, and Legal Challenges of Studying the Platformized Far Right, Tim de Winkel, Ludo Gorzeman, Sofie de Wilde de Ligny, Tomas ten Heuvel, Melissa Blekkenhorst, Sander Prins, and Mirko Tobias Schäfer
- The Ordinariness of January 6: Rhetorics of Participation in Antidemocratic Culture, Diren Valayden, Belinda Walzer, and Alexandra S. Moore
- Stuart Hall’s Relational Political Sociology: A Heuristic for Right-Wing Studies, Tyler Leeds
Essays
- Black Feminist Strategies for Right-Wing Studies, Blu Buchanan
- From the Margins to the Mainstream: A Personal Reflection on Three Decades of Studying and Teaching Far-Right Politics, Cas Mudde
- Burn After Reading: Research-Related Trauma, Burnout, and Resilience in Right-Wing Studies, Meredith L. Pruden
- Irrationality and Pathology: How Public Health Can Help to Make Sense in Right-Wing Studies, Emma Q. Tran
Vol. 1, No. 1 (2023)
This inaugural issue features the work of leading scholars who have examined right-wing politics across multiple regions worldwide. The issue contains full-length academic articles, essays, and a book review.
Full articles:
Cihan Tuğal (UC Berkeley) on Turkey, India, and the Philippines
Ben Cowan (UC San Diego) on Brazil
Bálint Magyar and Bálint Madlovics (Central European University) on Hungary and Poland
Nandini Sundar (University of Delhi) on India
Walter Skya (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) on Japan
Essays:
Terri Givens (McGill University) on Western Europe
Jeffrey Bloodworth (Gannon University) on the United States
Book review:
Meredith Pruden (Kennesaw State University) on Karen Lee Ashcraft's, Wronged and Dangerous: Viral Masculinity and the Populist Pandemic, Bristol: Bristol University Press, 2022
This content reflects the fact that the journal is being launched in a moment of extraordinary right-wing mobilization across the globe when militant movements and illiberal regimes have aligned ideologically, focused on maintaining ethnic, religious, gender, and racial hierarchies in the name of “traditional” values versus the imposition of the “woke” agenda.
Perhaps not since the 1930s and 1940s have concerned citizens been so acutely aware of the threats facing liberal democracy. Accordingly, we want to make JRWS available to as wide an audience as possible, including readers beyond the academy. To this end, the journal is published on an open-access basis, without economic barriers for readers or authors, through the California Digital Library’s eScholarship program. In addition to traditional academic research papers, we publish essays, commentaries, and book reviews. We have begun publishing such shorter pieces on our blog: On the Right: Current Topics in Right-Wing Studies.