Call for Papers: “Researching the Far-Right: Methodological Approaches, Challenges and Insecurities”

February 20, 2023

Call for Papers: “Researching the Far-Right: Methodological Approaches, Challenges and Insecurities”

Preliminary dates: 3-4 May 2023

Location: Central European University (CEU), Vienna, Austria

Abstract submission deadline: February 20

Organizers: Michael Laurence Miller (Nationalism Studies Program (NATI), CEU); Nino Gozalishvili (NATI CEU, The Center for Nationalism and Ethnicity Studies, UG Tbilisi); Liliia Sablina (Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations (DSPS), NATI CEU); Franziska Wagner (DSPS, NATI CEU);

Over the last thirty years the far-right has expanded as a transnational movement and far-right narratives have strengthened in both liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes. Scholars from various disciplines, including sociology, history, political science, international relations, gender studies, and economics, have been trying to understand the roots, consequences and causal mechanisms behind this phenomenon. However, as research on this topic has become more widespread, little attention has been paid to the researchers themselves, who must gather primary data via direct or indirect contact with extremist and radical groups. When taking gender into consideration, there are even more challenges, including intimidating power dynamics, condescension, or bullying.

The conference aims to bring together scholars from different scholarly disciplines with the aim of examining the methodological approaches to studying the far right, with a focus on the personal and ethical challenges of fieldwork, and the institutional assurances for the protection of researchers and the subjects of their research. The conference will gather early-career and senior researchers from different disciplinary perspectives in order to discuss the challenges and exchange their ideas for solving the pressing issues.

The conference will be composed of, but not limited to, the following themes:

· Conceptualizing the far-right: before and on a fieldwork;

· Researching the far-right: challenges and insecurities;

· Challenges seen through gender identities

· Personal and professional ethics

The two-day conference will conclude with a roundtable discussion with the researchers and practitioners sharing their challenges and solutions as well as suggestions for improving institutional support for the matter. A limited number of travel subsidies are available for PhD students and early career scholars who have no academic affiliation or are unable to cover their travel expenses. Please indicate the need for such support in the application form.

The deadline for the submission of the proposals is February 20, 2023. Please submit your abstracts (250-300 words) and a short bio to the following form https://forms.office.com/e/MgRYG8xsJ4 . For any inquiries, contact us at nsrg@ceu.edu

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