Standing Group Extremism & Democracy

The Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy was founded in 1999 by Roger Eatwell (Bath University) and Cas Mudde (now University of Antwerp). Initially, the focus of the group was exclusive to political extremism, i.e. the ‘extreme right’ and ‘extreme left.’ In 2001 the group opened up towards students of other forms of extremism, most notably terrorism and religious fundamentalism, and of issues related to democracy and democratization, such as social movements and civil society.

In 2000 the two founders started publishing a quarterly electronic newsletter, which as of issue 1:4 (Winter 2000) is named e-Extreme (thanks to Karen Thomson, our first assistant editor). After having solely edited the newsletter for some years, and later together with Michael Dartnell (University of Windsor), a new editorial team took over from issue 4:3 (Fall 2003) onwards: managing editor Ami Pedahzur (University of Haifa), Jennifer Holmes (University of Texas at Dallas) and Cas Mudde (reviews editor).

Roger Eatwell and Cas Mudde also function as editors of the Routledge Studies on Extremism and Democracy. With the enthusiastic support of Craig Fowlie, Senior Politics Editor at Routledge, we have published four titles in the first year alone, and three are about to be published:

- Christopher Hewitt, Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to al Qaeda, 2003.

- Petr Kopecky and Cas Mudde (eds.), Uncivil Society? Contentious Politics in Post-Communist Europe, 2003.

- Leonard Weinberg and Ami Pedahzur, Political Parties and Terrorist Groups, 2003.

- George Michael, Confronting Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA, 2003.

- Roger Eatwell and Cas Mudde (eds.), Western Democracies and the New Extreme Right Challenge, 2004.

- Amir Abedi, Anti-Political Establishment Parties. A Comparative Analysis, 2004.

- Darren J. Mulloy, American Extremism: History, Politics, and the Militia Movement, 2004.

In terms of membership the ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy has been growing ever since it was founded. On the 1st of February 2004 the group had 612 members from 51 different countries. Regionally, the distribution is as follows: North America (US + Canada) 225; Western Europe 187; United Kingdom and Ireland 102; Eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union 52; Asia 29, of which more than half from Israel; Australia 10; Latin America 6; and Africa 1. While political extremism is a world dominated by men, our Standing Group has a sizeable number of female members (136), which corresponds to roughly 22 per cent of the membership. As we do not register the status of the members, our rather low number of PhD students (67), approximately 11 per cent, might be an underestimation. This notwithstanding, we feel that only a minority of the PhD students active in the field are members, and call upon all members to point their own students to join our group.

The majority of the members work on issues of political extremism (ca. 375). The bulk of them research movements and ideas related to ‘right-wing extremism,’ including antisemitism, fascism, nationalism, and populism (368). Only 32 members study the extreme left as well. A growing group of members is involved in research on religious fundamentalism (87) and terrorism (72), including political violence and counter-terrorism. Finally, sizeable groups work on issues related to democracy, democratization, and human rights (66), or to (new) social movements and contentious politics (46).

Dr. Carl Levy

I have a BA in History from the SUNY at Buffalo (Magna Cum Laude) and a MA and Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. I have been a Research Fellow at the Fondazione Einaudi in Turin and I previously taught and/or researched at several British Universities (The Open University, University of Kent at Canterbury and Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London). Since 1991 I have taught at Goldsmiths College, University of London. I have been Head of the Department of Politics at Goldsmiths College since September 2002 and I am presently a Reader in European Politics. My fields of research are modern and contemporary Italian history, comparative European labour history, the history of ideas, European history since 1945 and the history, politics and government of the European Union. Readers of E-Extreme will be interested in my publications in the fields of anarchism and syndicalism and communism. Some examples are:

1. C. Levy, 'Malatesta in Exile, Annali della Fondazione Luigi Einuadi (Turin), Vol. XV, 1981, pp. 245-70.

1. C. Levy, 'Italian Anarchism, 1870-1926', in D. Goodway (ed.), For Anarchism. History, Theory and Practice, Routledge, London 1989, pp.24-78.

2. C. Levy, ' Malatesta in London: The Era of Dynamite', L. Sponza and A. Tosi (eds.), in L. Sponza and A. Tosi (eds.), A Century of Italian Emigration in Britain 1880s- 1980s, The Italianist (special supplement), vol. 13, 1993, pp. 25-42.

3. C. Levy, 'Charisma and Social Movements: Errico Malatesta and Italian Anarchism', Modern Italy, vol. 3, no.2, 1998, pp. 205-17.

4. C. Levy, 'Max Weber, Anarchism and Libertarian Culture', in S. Whimster (ed.), Max Weber and the Culture of Anarchy, Macmillan, Basinstoke, 1999, pp. 83-109.

5. C. Levy, Gramsci and the Anarchists, Berg, Oxford, 1999.

6. 'Currents of Italian Syndicalism before 1926', International Review of Social History, vol. 45, 2000, pp. 209-50.

7. 'Anarchism, Internationalism and Nationalism in Europe', Australian Journal of History and Politics, forthcoming, no.3, 2004.

I have also published in the fields of comparative fascism and modern right-wing populism. Please see:

1. C. Levy 'From Fascists to 'Post-Fascists': Italian Roads to Modernity', in R. Bessel (ed.), Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: Comparisons and Contrasts, CUP, Cambridge, 1996, pp. 131-50.

2. C. Levy (with J, Farrell), 'The Northern League: Conservative Revolution?', in C. Levy (ed.), Italian Regionalism. History, Identity and Politics, Berg, Oxford, 1996, pp. 131-50.

3. 'Fascism, National Socialism and Conservatives in Europe, 1914-1945: Issues for Comparativists', Contemporary European History, Vol. 8. no.1, 1999, pp. 97-126.

Finally I have written extensively on the asylum seeker and refugee policy in the European Union. And in this context, readers of E-Extreme will find my study of the effect of 9/11 on these policies in the European Union relevant (the dilemma for liberal democratic societies of how to offer protection to citizens without undermining core values that constitute liberal democracy) see:

C. Levy, 'The European Union after 9/11: The Demise of a Liberal Democratic Asylum Regime?', Government and Opposition, forthcoming, 2004.

I am also currently writing a comparative essay on the rise of the extreme right in Europe since the 1980s. This looks at specific effects of consociational democracy and the issue of migration upon the success of the extreme right in central Europe, the Low Countries and Scandinavia. I am also continuing my studies of the social history of anarchism and will publish a book on Antonio Gramsci for Polity Press in 2005.

Dr. Jennifer S. Holmes

Currently, I am an Assistant Professor of Government & Politics and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. After receiving my B.A from the University of Chicago in 1993 in political science, I earned my Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1998. My major areas of research are violence, regime change, and democratic stability with an emphasis on Latin America and Southern Europe. I am the author of Terrorism and Democratic Stability, Manchester University Press, 2001 and the editor of New Approaches to Comparative Politics: Insights from Political Theory, Global Encounter Series, Lexington Books, 2003. In addition, I have been published in Terrorism and Political Violence, The Journal of Politics, Latin American Research Review, and Revista de Estudios Colombianos. In 2003, I became a coeditor of e-Extreme.

My substantive focus on democratic stability, drug violence, and terrorist violence led to my current interest in Colombia. The issues in Colombia are extremely complicated. Because of this, I am working on a book length project with Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres, tentatively titled The Colombian Quagmire: Drugs, Violence and Democracy. This book examines the multiple forms of Colombian violence and vicious cycles of violence (drug, guerrilla, paramilitary and state) within the broad context of democracy.