Details
- Publication date
- 1 August 2024
- Author
- Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs
- RAN Publications Topic
- Violent right-wing extremism
Description
The mainstreaming of violent right-wing extremist (VRWE) narratives takes place within several areas of society, such as in sports, the media, politics, and the digital domain. These narratives are strategically adapted and disseminated to appeal to broad audiences within society, aiming to impact societal debate and shifting borders within public discourse towards more extreme views. This leads to a situation in which views and taboos that were previously considered unacceptable, are now “normalised” and considered acceptable.
The objective of this small-scale expert meeting was to build awareness on how right-wing extremists mainstream their narratives and in doing so, impact societal debate, fuelling radicalisation and extremism. Subsequently, this meeting also aimed to discuss how practitioners working in the prevention and countering of violent extremism (PCVE) can signal, counter and/or prevent this development.
The meeting outcomes are as follows:
- The process of mainstreaming fosters the erosion of trust in institutions within EU Member States. This is because VRWE narratives tend to question and undermine the reliability of democratic institutions such as the media, government and science by providing easy answers for difficult democratic realities. Therefore, the understanding of diverse viewpoints within society should be fostered. The simple, straightforward answer does not always reflect the only or best answer.
- Mainstreaming of VRWE within societal debate changes views on historical events and the narratives upon which society as a whole relies on and is constructed.
- The media should be aware of their role in the mainstreaming of right-wing extremist narratives. Individuals must be aware of how media attention can amplify the mainstreaming of extremist narratives within society. Avoid becoming a PR outlet by uncritically disseminating press releases.
- Critical thinking and media literacy should be better integrated into school curriculums. These skills reduce the fertile ground and susceptibility to radical or extremist ideologies, even when such ideologies are mainstreamed or framed innocently.
