Tag Archives: social-movements

Right-wing Populist Political Movements

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Morgül, Kerem. (2025). “Right-Wing Populist Political Movements.” Pp.7-13 in D. Snow, D. McAdam, & D. Moss (eds), Contemporary Social Movements: Historical and Descriptive Accounts. Wiley Blackwell.

The twenty-first century has seen a marked rise in the political influence of the right-wing populist parties and movements, distinguished by antiestablishment rhetoric, ethnonationalist fervor, and authoritarian tendencies. This chapter analyzes the defining characteristics of this global trend and the factors driving its ascent. Right-wing populism is conceptualized as an amalgamation of populism, ethnonationalism, and authoritarianism. Populism is defined by the mobilization of unified people around a transgressive political endeavor, simplifying politics into a conflict between the sovereign people and self-serving elites. Ethnonationalism underscores a shared ethnic identity as the foundation for national belonging, frequently advocating stringent immigration controls. Authoritarianism is evident in centralized power, the erosion of the rule of law, and constrained political freedoms. The proliferation of right-wing populism has been particularly pronounced in Europe, with notable instances in Hungary, Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands. Influential populist figures like Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro have also emerged globally, often challenging democratic institutions and advancing (ethno)nationalist agendas. The chapter explores the implications of these movements for democratic governance and societal cohesion. The rise of right-wing populism is examined through demand-side and supply-side explanations.

“Choppy Waters”: Navigating Political Generational Conflict in Social Movement Organizations

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Seigler, C. P., Velasco, K., & Paxton, P. (2025). “Choppy Waters”: Navigating Political Generational Conflict in Social Movement Organizations. American Sociological Review, 90(6), 1092-1122.

Social movements are composed of distinct political generations. Yet empirical work documenting distinct generations is limited, and work detailing the conflict and problems created by generational turnover exceedingly rare. Based on interviews with 39 leaders of LGBTQ+ organizations, supplemented with longitudinal administrative text data from 1,840 LGBTQ+ organizational mission statements, we demonstrate political generational change, and conflict, in the U.S. LGBTQ+ movement. The prior “Legacy” generation is confronted by an “Emergent” generation with different understandings of sexuality/gender, intersectionality, and organizational strategies. These conflictual differences produce material and emotional consequences as the “Legacy” generation takes their resources away and members of both generations feel erased from the movement’s collective identity. Leaders navigate these “choppy waters” by taking either a harsh approach, which seeks to dismiss whichever generation is viewed as hindering their organization’s work, or an inclusive approach that views generational tension as an opportunity to grow and strengthen their organization and the larger movement. We highlight how the observed conflict between political generations prompts a serious re-evaluation of the “unity through diversity” mantra associated with this movement. Ultimately, political generations are a critical link to understanding transformation and change in social movements with clear implications for collective identity, resource mobilization, and other core social movement processes.

Race, Reform, and Recalls: The Movement Against “Progressive” Prosecutors

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Goldberg, A. (2025). Race, Reform, and Recalls: The Movement Against “Progressive” Prosecutors. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 1–36. doi:10.1017/rep.2025.10043

Local prosecutors in the United States have significant discretion in the criminal legal system and have traditionally wielded their power in a way that contributes to mass incarceration. Since 2016, however, “progressive” prosecutors have been elected in growing numbers on pledges to mitigate the racialized harms of mass incarceration. While scholars tie progressive prosecutors’ elections to the Movement for Black Lives (BLM), less is known about countermovement efforts—including recalls, impeachments, and suspensions, examples of extra-electoral challenges—opposing these prosecutors. To address this gap, I constructed an original database of all local prosecutors in 2012 and/or 2022 in the country’s 300 most populous jurisdictions. Findings reveal that extra-electoral challenges disproportionately target women of color, disproportionately occur in Republican-controlled states, and have nearly tripled over the last decade. I argue that extra-electoral challenges constitute a novel movement repertoire used by the political right to challenge racial justice efforts following BLM.

Anti-leftism as an aesthetic in white power punk

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Katz, N. (2025). Anti-leftism as an aesthetic in white power punk. Social Movement Studies, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2025.2595346

White Power music scenes embrace both White Supremacy and the music cultures they situate themselves in. For White Power punk scenes, there is a reliance on the shaping and utilization of punk aesthetics to support their ideology. This paper examines how members of White Power punk bands in the United States and Germany utilize White Supremacist ideals and punk aesthetics to construct their scenes. The findings show that both the German and U.S. scenes emphasize an opposition to leftism as a core aesthetic. Opposing leftism serves as a driving aesthetic in three ways: it allows members to make sense of their music scenes, helps them create an ideological position that links music scenes together, and provides a discursive tool to connect their scenes with larger social issues.

Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Far-Right Intellectuals, and Political Mobilization

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Yang, M. (2025). Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Far-Right Intellectuals, and Political Mobilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

In December 2024, South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol stunned the world by declaring martial law. More puzzling was that Yoon’s insurrection unexpectedly gained substantial support from the ruling right-wing party and many citizens. Why do ordinary citizens support authoritarian leaders and martial law in a democratic country? What draws them to extreme actions and ideas? With the rise of illiberal, far-right politics across the globe, Reactionary Politics in South Korea provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices of far-right groups and organizations threatening democratic systems. Drawing on eighteen months of field research and rich qualitative data, Myungji Yang helps explain the roots of current democratic regression. Yang provides vivid details of on-the-ground internal dynamics of far-right actors and their communities and worldviews, uncovering the organizational and popular foundations of far-right politics and movements.