ABSTRACT

Between 1995 and 1999 we conduc ted life-history inter views with 157 activ ists of extreme right organ iz a tions in Flanders (Belgium), France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. Based on these inter views I try to answer the follow ing ques tions: How did these activ ists become involved in the extreme right and how did it change their lives?1 During the 1990s, when we conduc ted our inter views, the shape of right-wing extrem ism (RWE) in the five coun tries differed: it was marginal and dispersed in Germany and the Netherlands, and sizeable and united in Flanders, France, and Italy. Moreover, in Germany and the Netherlands RWE was asso ci ated with the dark era of National Socialism, while in France, Flanders, and Italy it was rooted in a ‘heroic’ nation al ist past. As a consequence, affil i at ing with RWE meant differ ent traject or ies and had differ ent consequences in these coun tries. This chapter begins with a compar ison of RWE in the five coun tries at the time of our inter views. In the sections that follow I will compare patterns of recruit ment into activ ism and the exper i ence of activ ism, respect ively. Recruitment patterns appear to differ contin gent on the state of RWE in the various coun tries. The same held for the exper i ence of being an active member of an extreme right organ iz a tion, as demon strated by a discus sion of stig mat iz a tion.