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 July 2008 VU University Amsterdam

The VETO Project VETO: Violent Extremist Terrorist Organizations (START center of the University of Maryland- EUI, 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

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. Basic Assumptions

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, 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, 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 fieldItalyGermany Political Arena/Institutional System Economy EU Justice and home affairs Culture/Society International Relations Internal life of right wing organizations History Social Policy Economic Policy Values and Law and order (Christianity) Immigration (Islam) History and National Identity % N total statements

Focusing on Christianity: Values and Law & Order (frames) IssueGermanyItaly Family47.1%3.2% Education/child raising23.5%1.1% Society in general (e.g. behaviours and mis-behaviours)17.6%8.6% Drugs2.0%5.4% Family policy (including gay issues, etc.)7.8%6.4% Gender7.8%No mention Abortion and related issues3.9%18.3% Cultural globalization3.9%17.2% Crisis of society2.0%30.1% Religion2.0%No mention Cultural Americanization2.0%3.2% Sexual life of society/deviancesNo mention4.3% ModernityNo mention2.1% N of statements related to value issues69 (100%) 229 (100%) % of statements related to value issues on total statements5% (N=1353) 9.2% (N=2460) Table 2: Statements related to value issues

Focusing on Christianity: Values and Law & Order (protest events) Table 4: Protest events related to value issues IssueGermanyItaly Religion39.1%No mention Education/child raising30.4%No mention Sexual life of society/deviances17.4%36.8% Cultural globalization4.3%2.6% Family4.3%No mention Society in general4.3%No mention Family policy (gay issues, etc.)No mention36.8% GenderNo mention Abortion and related issuesNo mention13.2% Crisis of societyNo mention5.3% Cultural AmericanizationNo mention2.6% DrugsNo mention2.6% ModernityNo mention N of events related to value issues23 (100%) 38 (100%) % of events related to value issues on total events6.4% (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 IssueGermanyItaly Immigration in general and immigration policy 44.1%60.0% Immigrants and security27.1%13.0% Immigrants and culture (‘multicultural society’) 22.0%20.3% Immigrants and the economy5.9%5.0% Races and ethnic relationsNo mention0.7% N of statements/events related to immigration issues 118 (100%) 270 (100%) % of statements/events related to immigration issues on total database 8.7% (N=1353) 11.0% (N=2460) Table 5: Statements (frames) and events related to specific immigration issues GermanyItaly 54.8%44.0% 24.2%16.0% 19.4%4.0% 1.6%4.0% No mention32.0% 62 (100%) 25 (100%) 17% (N=364) 9.0% (N=281) StatementsProtest events

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 IssueGermanyItaly History in general9.5%37.0% History, related to fascism and World War II49.2%50.0% National identity41.3%12.4% N of statements/events related to historical and identity issues 126 (100%) 153 (100%) % of statements/events related to historical and identity issues on total database 9.3 (N= 1353) 6.2 (N=2460) GermanyItaly 5.2%5.6% 74.2%86.1% 20.6%8.3% 97 (100%) 36 (100%) 26.6% (N=364) 12.8% (N=281) StatementsProtest events

Table 8: Actors related to anti-Semitism IssueGermanyItaly Jews in general0.7%0.4% Leading representatives of Jews in Germany / Italy0.3%No mention Zentralrat der Juden (only Germany)No mention n/a Zionism0.1%0.0% USA (including individuals and institutions)0.6%4.7% Israel (including individuals and institutions)1.7%0.6% N of statements Focusing on the Jewish Religion: History and National Identity

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.