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- Convenors:
-
Nicolas Petel-Rochette
(Université du Québec à Montréal)
Elena Miltiadis
Maddalena Gretel Cammelli (University of Turin)
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- Formats:
- Panel
- Networks:
- Network Panel
Short Abstract
This panel invites contributions that focus on the intertwinement of ethnography and fascism. On the grounds of research undertaken all over the world, we want to mobilize anthropological insights to offer a space of discussion on the multiple complexities of contemporary political scenarios.
Long Abstract
This panel's aim is to focus on the intertwinement of ethnography and fascism as a theoretical category. In a time of growing militarisation and of emerging forms of violence and deshumanization, this panel offers a space to discuss the intertwinement between theory, fieldwork, and the empirical acknowledgement and reckoning of fascist practices as anthropological conundrum. Across the world, we are witnessing the live-streamed genocidal violence in Palestine, political re-elaborations of history and of memory politics, criminalisation of migrations, backlash against feminists and gender struggles, ecological crisis and exploitation of resources on an unprecedented scale, as well as the instrumentalization, and simultaneous growth, of multiple expressions of antisemitism. Moving from contributors’ experiences in the field, we propose to use fascism as a category that can function as a heuristic device for the analysis of these and other themes. We invite researchers to share about their ethnographic engagements experiences and how these have shaped and informed their field of inquiry. On the grounds of recent events and state-of-the-art research on fascism undertaken all over the world, we want to mobilize anthropological insights in order to open a space of discussion to inquire into the multiple complexities of contemporary political scenarios. This will be at the same time an opportunity to continue and expand the research and reflection currently underway within the network. To do so, we encourage generative exchanges, providing a platform for collective dialogue and reflection. To foster this objective, we invite interested authors to send abstracts for short presentations of no more than 15 minutes. While we privilege talks, we are open to more creative or exploratory proposals.
Accepted papers
Session 1Paper short abstract
This paper examines the Polish far right, showing how emotions structure internal power relations and produce emotional hegemonies. Ethnography and theory reveal how affective practices consolidate authority, shape internal hierarchies, and guide dominance struggles.
Paper long abstract
Continuing growth in social support for far-right movements and their proposals has been evident in recent years almost all over Europe. Emotions are central to shaping the dynamics and trajectories of extremist attitudes, as well as dynamics of relations in which such groups are involved.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and theoretical insights, my presentation focuses on the Polish far right as a milieu that has developed strategies to mobilise supporters from significantly different social backgrounds. This phenomenon correlates with internal movement diversity. Individual factions exhibit noticeable differences in the way they display, distribute, and use emotions, including those commonly associated with violence. Emotions such as anger, hatred, disgust, and fear are mobilised on multiple levels in social practices to polarise society and legitimise exclusionary and violent imaginaries. Certain emotions are perceived as desirable, while others are valued negatively–as unnecessary or dangerous. Emotional regulation often becomes a deliberate action aimed at creating particular group images and building specific relations with the wider community.
Drawing on Sara Ahmed’s work on emotions as boundary-making practices (2014), this paper analyses how these processes shape internal dynamics, group consolidation, struggles over dominance, shifting power relations, and the formation of emotional hegemonies. Simultaneously,I’ll discuss how emotional practices influence the organisation of the group's social reality and the movement’s public perception.
Understanding the affective mechanisms is crucial for explaining the movement’s popularity and functioning. At the same time, it opens up space for reflecting on how extremist attitudes emerge and how they might be contested or unsettled.
Paper short abstract
Ethnographic research on suburban fascism and the criminalisation of migrants. The text explores the conflict between repression and assistance, using anthropology to dismantle the myths of victim and perpetrator, narratives of the ghetto neighbourhood, seeing baby gangs as a form of resistance.
Paper long abstract
Based on ethnographic research conducted in a suburb of northern Italy, these reflections will focus on the intertwining narratives that see the emergence of suburban fascism, the social integration work carried out by Caritas, and the second-generation migrants baby gangs phenomenon.
The emergence of suburban fascism manifests itself in the criminalisation of migrants and the marginalisation of the Other, while the political administration turns the neighbourhood into a ghetto where the police abuse his power through searches. Fascism finds its validity in portraying itself as a victim, as “the one who is afraid”, while a symbolic dispossession of migrants and drug addicts takes place, who are recognised as non-person. The administration itself portrays the neighbourhood as a border zone between the lawful and the unlawful, confirming the neighbourhood's reputation as a ghetto and thus justifying the fascist movement, a phenomenon capable of mobilising the masses through the media.
We are witnessing an overlap of forms of violence, with the fascist movement asking for repression and deportations, opposing the assistance work that Caritas carries out in the suburbs.
In this political scenario, Anthropology proves to be a tool for dismantling narratives between victims and perpetrators, seeking various forms of grassroots resistance, where the complexity lies in seeing even the rebellion of baby gangs as resistance itself to suburban fascism and administrative neglect, with the cry: “The neighbourhood is ours”. Fascism proves to be a heuristic device in its ability to maintain the power of the dominant group by stigmatising the Other.
Paper short abstract
Based on research in German fascist digital spaces, this paper reflects on victimhood as a methodological lens for digital ethnography. Drawing on Lefebvre, it conceptualizes online platforms as affective spaces that enable fascist narratives and demand explicit antifascist research ethics.
Paper long abstract
This paper advances a transdisciplinary methodological intervention into the study of fascism by proposing victimhood as a central analytical lens for digital ethnography. Drawing on field research conducted for my Master’s thesis, it reflects on the specificities of the digital field and on the ethical demands of studying regressive movements. Following Adrienne Pine and Dan McQuillan, I argue that such movements cannot be approached from a position of neutrality, but must be researched through an explicitly antifascist stance that acknowledges the political consequences of academic knowledge production.
The digital field this research is situated in is characterized by fragmentation and heterogeneity: a multiplicity of actors, core ideologues, and audiences operate across channels and formats. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s concept of space, I conceptualize this online field as a socially produced space shaped by specific material conditions. Platform capitalism, data extraction, and engagement-orientation structure visibility and reward affective and morally charged communication. I argue that these conditions systematically privilege fascist narratives, making the digital field a particularly productive site for the circulation of victimhood claims.
On a theoretical level, the paper highlights the underexplored intertwinement between fascism and victimhood, as first conceptualized by Lilie Chouliaraki, in field-based research. I suggest that victimhood functions as a malleable speech act through which fascist actors construct moral legitimacy and justify violence. Critically investigating digital victimhood ethnographically not only deepens our understanding of why fascism operates as a compelling identity offer, but may also inform critical strategies to counter fascist mobilization in digital spaces.
Paper short abstract
This study examines how Spain’s lack of public remembrance for the Francoist dictatorship fuels political polarization and supports far-right movements, linking historical amnesia to contemporary fascist tendencies through archival research and ethnographic insight.
Paper long abstract
This research investigates the political consequences of Spain’s “pact of forgetting” and the absence of structured public memory policies regarding the Francoist dictatorship and Civil War. While historical memory has been widely studied, this project contributes an original perspective by connecting gaps in collective remembrance to contemporary political polarization and the rise of far-right movements such as VOX.
Using a combination of qualitative content analysis of legislation, archival material, media sources, and interviews, the study examines how historical amnesia is experienced, interpreted, and mobilized by political actors and communities. It considers public commemorations, party documents, and policy debates to understand how unresolved historical trauma shapes democratic consolidation and ideological polarization.
By framing Spain’s case within global discussions of post-authoritarian memory politics, this research aligns with the panel’s focus on the intertwinement of ethnography and fascism. It demonstrates how ethnographic approaches can reveal the everyday manifestations of fascist tendencies, showing that the absence of public remembrance is not only a historical or political issue but also a social phenomenon that shapes collective identity and political mobilization.
Ultimately, the study highlights the enduring impact of forgotten legacies, offering insights into how unresolved histories can foster conditions conducive to contemporary far-right resurgence and the broader challenges of reconciling democratic memory with authoritarian pasts.
Paper short abstract
The paper proposes a comparative analysis between anti-migration protests on the island of Ireland and the attacks against migrants in Italy. Drawing on two different fieldworks, a major point of connection emerges: the racially-driven far-right mobilization of perceived male violence against women.
Paper long abstract
In recent years, the dynamics surrounding migration in Europe have become increasingly entangled with far-right mobilizations, particularly in contexts marked by socio-economic instability and shifting political landscapes. This paper seeks to explore the intersection of ethnographic fieldwork by presenting a comparative analysis of two distinct cases: the anti-migration protests on the island of Ireland and the violent attacks against migrants in Italy.
Through ethnographic research conducted in Dublin and Belfast, as well as in the Italian town of Macerata, some major points of connection emerge: far-right ideologies interact with local narratives of belonging, sovereignty, and state presence by using gender as a central line of discussion. In both contexts, the complex, multi-layered engagement of social actors – ranging from Nationalist and Unionist groups on the island of Ireland, to far-right activists and racialized communities in Italy – reveals how the discourse surrounding migration is shaped by both historical legacies and contemporary political anxieties.
Drawing on these cases, the paper focuses on the racially-driven far-right mobilization of perceived male violence against women. Sociologists such as Sara Farris have defined this process as "femonationalism", and anthropologists like Francesca Scrinzi have framed it as "racialization of sexism". Rather than engaging with theoretical labels, this paper will focus on the concrete forms in which these discourses and practices manifest.
Paper short abstract
This article examines Brazil’s far right through its anti-Indigenous agenda in the Amazon. Based on ethnography in the Lower Tapajós, it shows how legal rulings and Bolsonaro-era rhetoric mobilize victimhood and nostalgia to recast deforestation as patriotic and Indigenous rights as threats.
Paper long abstract
This article examines the Brazilian far right through its anti-Indigenous agenda, narratives of
victimhood, nostalgia, and conspiratorial rhetoric. Drawing on eighteen months of
ethnographic fieldwork in the Lower Tapajós, it analyzes how agribusiness interests and
far-right politics converge through legal decisions and political discourse. The first section
centers on a 2014 federal court ruling that denied the existence of Indigenous identity in the
Maró territory, branding its inhabitants as “false Indians.” This decision not only sought to
delegitimize Indigenous land claims but also became a rallying point for regional
agribusiness actors, who framed themselves as besieged by environmental regulation and
international conspiracies against national development. The second section turns to Jair
Bolsonaro’s presidency (2019–2022), showing how his “zero demarcation” policy drew on
restorative nostalgia for the military dictatorship. His rhetoric reframed Indigenous
mobilization as a threat to sovereignty and portrayed agribusiness as the true guardian of
the nation’s future. Ethnographic encounters with soy union leaders and analysis of electoral
dynamics reveal how these affects—particularly self-victimization and nostalgia for
authoritarian developmentalism—were mobilized to cement alliances between local elites,
national politics, and broader far-right agendas. By tracing how grievances are weaponized
and conspiratorial narratives normalized, the article highlights the ecological and political
consequences of far-right populism in one of the world’s most critical environmental frontiers.
Ultimately, it argues that support for the far right in the Amazon cannot be explained solely
through economic pressure or dispossession; rather, it emerges from affective regimes that
recast privilege as persecution and deforestation as patriotic progress.
Paper short abstract
This paper examines the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder on the Utah campus where he was shot. The paper uses this case to approach the question of how fascist imaginaries meet points of fracture that stifle attempts to amplify and congeal an enemy image into an assumed consensus.
Paper long abstract
In the immediate aftermath, many saw the killing of Charlie Kirk in Utah as an inflection point in the United States. In a country that has come to take for granted hundreds of mass shootings a year, the targeted killing of Kirk was held up as if it were a synecdoche of a deep social-political pathology. Discourses following the shooting crystallized the event into an enemy image with definite moral status but uncertain referent. This gave the event polysemy in its potential to justify a variety of repressive actions, but also made its meaning highly contestable. This paper will examine the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder on the campus where he was shot: Utah Valley University. It traces how attempts to transvaluate the event into an enemy-friend, scapegoating discourse, failed to articulate with an ambiguously Mormon civic religion performed on the UVU campus. Following the shooting, shrines emerged on campus memorializing Kirk as a martyr, pilgrims came to campus to honor him, and UVU’s institutionally sponsored Vigil for Peace celebrated Kirk’s faith and family life. These practices did not directly challenge the scapegoating discourses favored by online MAGA influencers and members of the executive branch of the U.S. government, but tacitly weakened them through redirection. The paper will use this case to approach the question of how fascist imaginaries meet points of fracture that stifle attempts to amplify and congeal an enemy image into an assumed consensus–even among people with shared political commitments.
Paper short abstract
Documentary, audiovisual and digital ethnography of the representations of police work made by the a military police of Brazil, on the institution's official YouTube channel. It explores how state production of copagandistic media results in the lack of accountability in cases of police violence.
Paper long abstract
This paper discusses the social representations of police work created by the military police of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The research was composed of a documentary, audiovisual and digital ethnography of the institution's official YouTube channel, with focus on the reality series Papa Mike SC, which followed the practices of military police officers and accumulated over 20 million views. The methodology was composed of four steps: a) panoramic analysis of the entire scope of the channel, b) description of the intersubjective experience of watching the series, c) dense descriptions of the audiovisual content of the 17 episodes, and d) content analysis of the public’s reaction to the videos through the comment sections. This study on police documents of communicational nature revealed that those narratives are composed of a copagandistic content. “Copaganda” describes pro-police propaganda in the media and has been associated with descriptions of the police as the only legitimate source of security and force and of police officers as morally, physically, intellectually and technologically superior individuals. The content also described predominantly black areas of the states, such as favelas, as “crime localities”. The analysis of the comments highlighted that the public’s response to the videos was an endorsement for police brutality in the areas categorized as dangerous. The findings lead to the conclusion that state production of copagandistic media resulted in the perpetration of a lack of accountability in cases of police violence through the promotion of these practices in the areas designated as deserving of it.
Paper short abstract
this study examines the reframing of memory politics and the legacy of the human rights movement under Milei’s far-right government. It focuses on a younger generation of “new right-wing” activists who appropriate, contest and redefine emblematic symbols of the memory of dictatorship
Paper long abstract
Based on ethnographic research, this study examines the reframing of memory politics and the legacy of the human rights movement under Milei’s far-right government. It focuses on two contrasting generations: the first, actors who participated in the political conflicts of the 1970s and have been affiliated with “traditional” far-right parties since the return to democracy in 1983; the second: a younger generation of “new right-wing” activists who appropriate, contest and redefine emblematic expressions of the memory of state terrorism—such as Never Again. Born and raised in democracy, they mobilize categories, principles, and values used to interpret the past to position themselves in current political disputes, often against opponents identified as kirchneristas. Both entered the government to manage memory politics. Their political work reveals the multiple meanings and uses attributed to these categories and repertoires of mobilization.
The research draws on a wide range of sources, including in-depth interviews with relatives of perpetrators, victims of guerrilla attacks, and young far-right activists; observation of judicial trials and official events; analysis of Milei’s memory policies, social media content and 200 letters to the editor. Across these arenas, I trace compassion narratives that seek to recast perpetrators as victims and to forge a legitimate political identity. The findings highlight the potential of ethnography to understand social groups that embody extreme forms of alterity, making visible and intelligible the lives of those who perceive themselves as socially dehumanized, offering a unique lens to grasp the dynamics and political imaginaries of Argentina’s emerging far-right movements.