The Rise of the Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe

The contemporary radical right has been growing in prominence in Central and Eastern Europe. Why though, have these parties mobilized and how are they attracting support? Right-wing radical groups – both parties and other social/political organizations – benefited primarily by offering an alternative channel for political discontent. In the more ethnically homogenous societies of Central Europe, radical right parties mobilize to keep minorities from advancing. In a more ethnically and linguistically diverse society such as Ukraine, the unpopularity of radical right-wing parties has been countered by an increased social role played by radicalized right-wing extra-parliamentary and paramilitary groups. This seminar will contrast the cases of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary with that of Ukraine, and offer a more nuanced understanding of the activities and motivations of radical right political parties in Central and Eastern Europe.

Programme of the seminar:

18:00-18:30: Registration

Opening speech:

Ondřej Horký-Hlucháň, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Research, Institute of International Relations Prague

18:45-19:15: The Ascendency of Minority Groups and the Mobilization of the Radical Right in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary

Dr. Lenka Buštíková, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

19:15-19:30: Radical Right Party Politics vs Social Movements in Ukraine: combating Russian disinformation and popular misunderstanding

Dr. Melanie Mierzejewski, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of International Relations

19:30-20:00: Open discussion to the public for Q and A session

Dr. Lenka Buštíková grew up in Prague and holds a PhD in political science from Duke University and MA degrees from Charles University, Central European University and Harvard University. She is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on party politics, voting behavior, clientelism, and state capacity, with special reference to Eastern Europe. She is the recipient of the 2015 Best Article Prize, awarded by the American Political Science Association's European Politics and Society Section, for her article "Revenge of the Radical Right".

Dr. Melanie Mierzejewski holds a PhD in political science from the University of Illinois, Chicago and MA degrees from Arizona State University and Jagiellonian University. She is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. Her research focuses on party politics, institutionalization and democratization in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and appears in Eastern European Politics and the New Eastern Europe. Additionally, she authored the chapter on Ukraine in The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right (2017).