070253 SE SE Seminar (PM 3) (2017W)

The Far Right is one the rise everywhere in Europe and beyond. This calls for a more thorough analysis of far right movements with a transnational approach. The seminar also
aims at familiarazing students with recent developments in the study of material culture by taking under scrutiny objects produced, used and/or promoted by far right organizations and activists. In so doing, the course combines an investigation of two highly relevant research areas (material cultures and far right movements) which have been rapidly developing in recent years but which have rarely been analyzed jointly. In addition to constituting very important research areas, studies of these fields also promote an engagement with current socio-political developments in East Central Europe and beyond. In recent decades, new forms of communication and technological progress have been accompanied by a renewed interest in how people make, exchange, and consume objects. Recent events conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East, the "refugee crisis", economic instability, to name but some have contributed to the increasing activity of (far-)right groups and parties. Brought together, these phenomena encourage an exploration of a series of issues, all of which will be addressed during our seminar: What common patterns, symbols and iconographies are reflected in far-right material culture? What is specific about new radical right's material culture and to what extent does the new right draw on past far-right culture (e.g. fascism, Nazism)? To what extent do different national far right movements exchange/borrow elements from other kindred groups? What is the place of far right culture in the mainstream discourse and public sphere?

The research seminar will be accompanied by are series of public lectures by internationally renowned experts of far right movements. This lecture series is made possible through a grant from the ERSTE Foundation (ERSTE Stiftung)

Format and teaching hours: 30 hours per semester (including a group project and a museum workshop)