Radicalization and the
Discourse of Race and
Religion: A comparative
Analysis of Extreme Right in
Italy and Germany
Donatella della Porta
Manuela Caiani
Claudius Wagemann
European University Institute
Workshop Politicization & Radicalization
25-27 July 2008
VU University Amsterdam
The VETO Project




VETO: Violent Extremist Terrorist Organizations
(START center of the University of MarylandEUI, Florence)
Main idea: Radicalization of political activism
(origins of political violence)
Comparative case study: The extreme right in
Italy and Germany (later: US)
3 Components: frame analysis, network
analysis, protest event analysis
Approaching Right-Wing
Extremism




Pathologies of behavior of activists (irrationality)
Breakdown theories vs. ‘resource mobilization’
approaches
“Cultural turn” in social movement research
Social mechanisms that intervene between
macro-causes and macro-effects
Basic Assumptions
Structural effects are mediated by the militants’
perception of the reality through which their political
involvement develops.
The use of violence can be understood only within the
context of an individual's political career, during which
collective identities are built and transformed through
collective processes.
In order to understand radical politics-as other forms of
politics-it is therefore important to investigate individual
and group understanding of the external reality, as well
as their position in it.
Method: triangulation strategy
in VETO
Three different analytical approaches:
frame analysis, network analysis, protest
event analysis
 Three different sources for the frame
analysis
 Quantitative and qualitative modules for
each analytical approach


Frame analysis: cognitive mechanisms
which
are
relevant
in
influencing
organizational and individual behavior.

Network
analysis:
(inter-)organizational
structural characteristics of the extreme right
milieu.

Protest event analysis: broad repertoire of
collective action undertaken by right-wing
extremists over the last decade.
Extreme Right and Religion



Recent radicalization of some political conflicts, up to the
extreme forms of terrorism
New attention to the role of religious cleavages in politics
(and their escalation)
Intensification of the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ rhetoric
Main question:
How far extremist, especially right-wing extremist
forces deal with the new focusing of the public discourse on
the religious dimension? Or, more explicitly, to which extent
are extreme right organizations in Italy and Germany ready
and willing to exploit the new attention to religion by adapting
their frames and re-orienting their action repertoires?
Cases and Sources: Frame analysis

For each country: 3 different types of extreme right
organizations (a political party, a political movement, a
sub-cultural skinhead group) and written documents

Germany
 NPD: newspaper
 Nationales Bündnis Dresden (NBD): online forum of discussion
 Comradeships Neu-Ulm and Hochfranken (‘Kameradschaften’): websites
Italy
 Forza Nuova: newspaper
 Veneto Fronte Skinheads: monthly magazine
 Camerata Virtuale: on line forum of discussion



Data collected: 4000 statements, 2001-2006
Categories for the Coding:
Issue field
Subject actor
Object actor
Ally actor
Action
(Non-action)
“is/ will/ should”
Cases and Sources: protest event
analysis
 Sources:
German (“Taz”) and Italian newspapers ( “La Repubblica”), Search
strings


Data collected: 645 protest events, 2000-2007
Categories for the Coding:
Type of action
Actor
Participants (numbers)
Wounded, arrested, denounced activists
Targets of protest
Object of protest
Issue fields
Counter events
Table 1: Broader issue fields treated in the statements (percentage)
Broader issue field
Italy
Germany
Political Arena/Institutional
System
24.6
29.7
Economy
12.0
6.1
EU
11.5
4.5
Justice and home affairs
7.5
5.5
Culture/Society
7.4
14.4
International Relations
7.2
2.7
Internal life of right wing
organizations
6.5
16.3
History
5.4
5.3
Social Policy
4.1
8.1
Economic Policy
2.9
3.0
Values and Law and order
(Christianity)
9.2
5.0
11.0
8.7
6.2
9.3
100%
100%
Immigration (Islam)
History and National Identity
N total statements
2460
1353
Focusing on Christianity: Values and Law & Order (frames)
Table 2: Statements related to value issues
Issue
Germany
Italy
Family
47.1%
3.2%
Education/child raising
23.5%
1.1%
Society in general (e.g. behaviours and mis-behaviours)
17.6%
8.6%
Drugs
2.0%
5.4%
Family policy (including gay issues, etc.)
7.8%
6.4%
Gender
7.8%
No mention
Abortion and related issues
3.9%
18.3%
Cultural globalization
3.9%
17.2%
Crisis of society
2.0%
30.1%
Religion
2.0%
No mention
Cultural Americanization
2.0%
3.2%
Sexual life of society/deviances
No mention
4.3%
Modernity
No mention
2.1%
N of statements related to value issues
69
(100%)
229
(100%)
% of statements related to value issues on total statements
5%
(N=1353)
9.2%
(N=2460)
Focusing on Christianity: Values and Law & Order (protest events)
Table 4: Protest events related to value issues
Issue
Germany
Italy
Religion
39.1%
No mention
Education/child raising
30.4%
No mention
Sexual life of society/deviances
17.4%
36.8%
Cultural globalization
4.3%
2.6%
Family
4.3%
No mention
Society in general
4.3%
No mention
Family policy (gay issues, etc.)
No mention
36.8%
Gender
No mention
No mention
Abortion and related issues
No mention
13.2%
Crisis of society
No mention
5.3%
Cultural Americanization
No mention
2.6%
Drugs
No mention
2.6%
Modernity
No mention
No mention
N of events related to value issues
23
(100%)
38
(100%)
% of events related to value issues on total events
6.4%
(N=364)
13.5%
(N=281)

‘homosexuals’ are the most frequently
recurring target of extreme right actions in
Italy, with a share of 12.6% of all covered
events addressed against them.
Focusing on Islam: Immigration and Security
Table 5: Statements (frames) and events related to specific immigration issues
Statements
Protest events
Issue
Germany
Italy
Germany
Italy
Immigration in general and
immigration policy
44.1%
60.0%
54.8%
44.0%
Immigrants and security
27.1%
13.0%
24.2%
16.0%
Immigrants and culture
(‘multicultural society’)
22.0%
20.3%
19.4%
4.0%
Immigrants and the economy
5.9%
5.0%
1.6%
4.0%
Races and ethnic relations
No mention
0.7%
No mention
32.0%
N of statements/events related to
immigration issues
118
(100%)
270
(100%)
62
(100%)
25
(100%)
% of statements/events related to
immigration issues on total
database
8.7%
(N=1353)
11.0%
(N=2460)
17%
(N=364)
9.0%
(N=281)
Actors

Muslims in frames: In Germany, ‘Muslims’ are
mentioned only in 0.1% (n = 2) of all statements
coded. ‘Foreigners (in general)’ are mentioned in
2.8% of all statements.

Muslims in protest events: In Italy, actions
directed against the ‘immigrants (in general)’
account for 4.7% of all covered events. Among
them, 2.6% of events are specifically against
Muslims.
Focusing on the Jewish Religion: History and National Identity
Table 7: Statements (frames) and events related to historical and identity issues
Statements
Protest events
Issue
Germany
Italy
Germany
Italy
History in general
9.5%
37.0%
5.2%
5.6%
History, related to fascism and World War II
49.2%
50.0%
74.2%
86.1%
National identity
41.3%
12.4%
20.6%
8.3%
N of statements/events related to historical and
identity issues
126
(100%)
153
(100%)
97
(100%)
36
(100%)
% of statements/events related to historical and
identity issues on total database
9.3
(N= 1353)
6.2
(N=2460)
26.6%
(N=364)
12.8%
(N=281)
Focusing on the Jewish Religion: History and National Identity
Table 8: Actors related to anti-Semitism
Issue
Germany
Italy
Jews in general
0.7%
0.4%
Leading representatives of Jews in Germany / Italy
0.3%
No
mention
Zentralrat der Juden (only Germany)
No
mention
n/a
Zionism
0.1%
0.0%
USA (including individuals and institutions)
0.6%
4.7%
Israel (including individuals and institutions)
1.7%
0.6%
N of statements
1353
2460

The category ‘religious minorities’, represents
the third most frequent target of extreme right
actions in Italy, accounting for 7.7% of all
codified events.
Within this general category: 6.2% of events
refer to ‘Jews’, or to specific ‘leading
representatives of Jews’, or to ‘Israel’.
Conclusions

Religion per se does not seem to play much of a
role in the discourses and actions of the extreme
right as religion per se is rarely mentioned and
acted upon, in both countries

Frames and protest events are however linked to
religious discourses in more complex ways.

Country specificities:


Form of fundamentalist Catholicism propagated by extreme right
groups in Italy
Definition of a religious dimension in anti-Semitism in Germany
…Conclusions

Sociological processes activated around religion
in politics: religion as cultural or structural
phenomenon?

Usefulness of the frame analysis: The use of concepts like
(religious) ideology, appears as too broad to take into account
the specific political adaptations of specific aspects of the broad
and heterogeneous culture of each religion.

Importance to look at the actions of protest: They are at the
same time the sites for expression of ideas, but also contribute to
the reproduction of them. A structural approach to the “religious
revival” has to focus on the organizational activation of the
resources into actions.