Research Program in the Research Unit Political Actors and Ideologies

The Political Actors and Ideologies Research Unit is dedicated to exploring political dynamics at the intersection of extremism and democracy. Specifically, we study a wide variety of far-right actors, including political parties, movements, and subcultures, analyzing their origins, ideologies, dissemination, and impact on society.

Our work spans the (populist) radical right, extreme right, and tangential forms of anti-democratic politics from a comparative, international perspective. In addition, we are interested in responses to the rise and normalization of the far right, as well as broader questions of democratic resilience.

We apply interdisciplinary approaches and multi-method research designs, with a strong emphasis on qualitative methods and their ethical application in this sensitive field of research.

The unit’s research projects are organized into three thematic areas:

1. Far-right actors such as political parties, organizations, and networks
2. Exclusionary ideologies and far-right worldviews
3. Normalization of the far right and “Everyday Extremism”, i.e., the ways in which far-right ideas and practices become embedded in everyday life.

These research areas are supported by ongoing theoretical development, methodological reflection, and ethically grounded research practices in a politically sensitive context.