Far-right transnationalism: definitions, typologies and geopolitical implications CSTPV - Next Gen Talk

Research on the contemporary far right has largely prioritised party-centred and electorally driven explanations, often overlooking the ideological, organisational and relational infrastructures that sustain far-right mobilisation beyond formal political arenas. This seminar advances a transnational social movement perspective, conceptualising the far right as a networked ecosystem of parties, movements, cultural actors and informal organisations operating across national borders.

The paper develops a multidimensional analytical framework centred on three interrelated dimensions of transnationalism: transnationally shared ideologies and identities, cross-national organisational structures, and coordinated practices. It refines existing approaches by introducing analytical gradients within each dimension, distinguishing between systemic and issue-specific ideological convergence, varying degrees of organisational integration, and episodic versus recurrent forms of joint action, as well as between full and partial transnationalism.

A core contribution lies in integrating far-right transnationalism with intelligence and security studies. The analysis proposes a tripartite typology of transnational networks, spontaneous, induced and infiltrated, and further disaggregates induced transnationalism into direct, indirect and combined forms, depending on whether collaboration with intelligence agencies occurs through explicit bilateral relationships, mediated covert structures or hybrid configurations across domestic and international arenas. This distinction highlights the strategic and geopolitical conditions under which far-right networks are facilitated, instrumentalised or
reshaped.

By combining historical analysis with contemporary concerns over political violence, foreign fighting and encrypted communication, the seminar challenges approaches that reduce transnationalism to online discourse or electoral coordination alone. It concludes by arguing for analytical models capable of tracing the organisational and operational infrastructures through which far-right ideas, resources and practices circulate transnationally, with implications for social movement theory, security analysis and democratic governance in an increasingly multipolar context.

Email [email protected] for the link to the MS Teams event.