About us

The ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy was founded in 1999 by Roger Eatwell (Bath University) and Cas Mudde (now University of Antwerp). The Standing Group provides a platform and infrastructure to the broad range of scholars working on (various aspects) of 'extremism and democracy' in all parts of the world. As the topic is studied in different disciplines, the Standing Group welcomes scholars from fields such as sociology, (social) psychology or (contemporary) history. However, as a Standing Group of the European Consortium of Political Science (ECPR), the main focus is on the political aspects of extremism. Moreover, and in keeping with the ECPR-tradition, we particularly welcome scholars who work in a comparative spirit.

Most importantly, the Standing Group is academically neutral and is not meant to become a battle ground for the unfortunate ideological battles that have hampered much research on political extremism. Rather, it wants to be the meeting ground of serious scholarship from all persuasions, (neo-) Marxist, extremism-theoretical, new politics, etc. The same applies to (the often related) terminology: though we here use the term 'extremism' this obviously does not exclude participation from scholars working with other terms to describe similar phenomena (such as fascism, fundamentalism, populism, radicalism, terrorism etc).

While most contemporary academic studies of extremism still study the phenomenon in isolation of its environment, the Standing Group's name indicates its interest in the political role of extremism, as well as the specifics of the phenomenon itself. We are particularly interested in the (inter-)relation between extremism and democracy. Thereby, the focus can be also on democracy, i.e. how democracy can fight extremism without becoming extremist itself. In addition to political theoretical/philosophical studies this could also include empirical work into (comparative) 'anti-extremist' provisions in different world polities and their effects. In other words, we aim to integrate colleagues working on topics as diverse as:

◘ extreme right parties in Western Europe;

◘ communist organisations in the post-Soviet space;

◘ Jewish terrorists in Israel;

◘ religious fundamentalism in the Middle East;

◘ populism in Latin America;

◘ eco-warriors in the UK;

◘ anti-globalisation groups in the US;

◘ political violence in South Africa;

◘ contentious politics in New Zealand;

◘ Hindu radicalism in India, etcetera.

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 edited the newsletter for some years, later together with Michael Dartnell (University of Windsor), a new editorial team took over. At this moment, the editorial team consists of: managing editor Jennifer Holmes (University of Texas at Dallas), editor William M. Downs (Georgia State University) and reviews editor Nigel Copsey (Teeside University).

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 already published some ten titles and more are to follow (see here).

The membership of the ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy has been growing ever since it was founded. As of 1 January 2005 the group had more than 600 members from over 50 different countries. Regionally, the distribution is as follows: North America (US + Canada) ca. 225; Western Europe ca. 190; United Kingdom and Ireland ca. 100; Eastern Europe, including the former Soviet Union ca. 50; Asia ca. 30, of which more than half from Israel; Australia  ca.10; Latin America 6; and Africa 1.

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. Only some 30 members study (also) the extreme left. A growing group of members is involved in research on religious fundamentalism (ca. 90) and terrorism (ca. 75), including political violence and counter-terrorism. Finally, sizeable groups work on issues related to democracy, democratization, and human rights (ca. 70), or to (new) social movements and contentious politics (ca. 50).

While political extremism is a world dominated by men, our Standing Group has a sizeable number of female members (136), which corresponds to roughly 20 per cent of the membership. As we do not register the status of the members, our rather low number of PhD students (ca. 70), just over 10 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 extend a warm invitation to all PhD students working on topics of extremism and democracy to join our group.

Anyone, faculty or graduate student, interested in joining the ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy, or in receiving more information on its activities, please contact the convenor by email.