International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on The Ultra-Right: Media, Discourses, and Communicative Strategies

Where does the resilience of the ultra-right reside? What is the role of self-representation and extreme right media in supporting the rise of neofascist movements since the early 2000s? How can we resist and oppose this upsurge? What is the role of critical scholarship in pursuing this field of study? 

In its multiple renditions, the extreme right has been on the rise for decades in part thanks to its ability to continuously repurpose old language into new formats and (new) media. History has shown that when a particular neo-fascist group or social movement disappears, another one springs up, ready to take its place. This has been the trajectory of the ultra-right since the end of World War II. For this reason, we need to tirelessly investigate its ebb and flow: we must pay attention when it is out in plain sight, but we should not underestimate it when it is hiding and apparently defeated. This Special Section on The Ultra-Right: Media, Discourses, and Communicative Strategies, guest-edited by Cinzia Padovani and John E. Richardson, intends to continue shedding light on extreme right movements and their media from a multiplicity of vantage points and national contexts.

Each article in this Special Section invites us to reflect on a different aspect of ultra-right discourses. From the topic of social media regulation and freedom of speech, to misogynistic discourse on the Internet and how that permeates various areas of our societies, from transnational conspiracy discourse in Greece and beyond, to the meta-political strategies of the Austrian Identitarians, the scholars in this Special Section analyze the ability of ultra-right movements and activists to exploit social media affordances and the ties to public discourse at large. In each one of these topics, from regulation to misogyny, from conspiracies to the tendency to disseminate and repurpose old arguments, we observe and study the neofascists as they continue to influence the cultural sphere at the national and international levels. Critical social science, of all forms, should be aimed at exploring and counteracting power abuse. The articles in this Special Section offer ways of understanding and, importantly, opposing contemporary neofascisms through sustained ideological critique of their mediated politics. 

To this end, we invite you to read these articles published in the International Journal of Communication on November 8, 2024

____________________________________________________________________________________

The Ultra-Right: Media, Discourses, and Communicative Strategies—Editorial Introduction
Cinzia Padovani, John E. Richardson

Social Media, the Ultra-Right, and Freedom of Speech
Cinzia Padovani

“Time to Abandon Swedish Women”: Discursive Connections Between Misogyny and White Supremacy in Sweden
Tina Askanius, Maria Brock, Anne Kaun, Anders Olof Larsson

Transnational Conspiracies Echoed in Emojis, Avatars, and Hyperlinks Used in Extreme-Right Discourse
Fabienne Baider, Maria Constantinou

“Our Only Weapons are Good Arguments and Dissemination”—The Austrian Identitarians Taken at Their Word
Judith Goetz

____________________________________________________________________________________

Silvio Waisbord, Editor
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor 
Chi Zhang, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Mark Mangoba-Agustin, Webmaster
Cinzia Padovani, John E. Richardson, Guest Editors

Please note that according to the latest Google Scholar statistics, IJoC ranks 7th among all  Humanities journals and 9th among all Communications journals in the world — demonstrating the viability of open access scholarly publication at the highest level.