Exploring the nuances of the British anti-Islam populist radical right: who expresses support for them and why?

Sibley, A., 2023. Exploring the nuances of the British anti-Islam populist radical right: who expresses support for them and why? PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

Far-right activity is a major threat in most Western, liberal democracies. In the United Kingdom, the far-right is the fastest-growing form of extremism (Home Office, 2021). This thesis aims to address gaps in the far-right literature by conducting three related studies on the Democratic Football Lads Alliance, The For Britain Movement and Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of European. It aims to understand who expresses support for these groups and why? It addresses these questions by conducting a Facebook demographic study of 9,000 supporters, a Reflexive Thematic Analysis of over 30 hours of YouTube videos and 15 semi-structured interviews with supporters and leaders of these three groups.

The first study finds that the conservative nativist supporter (typically the white, older, lower-educated male) is the most common supporter. However, sexually modern nativists (women and higher educated people) are also present. Crucially, it develops a new supporter category; the ethnically diverse nativist, representing British PRR supporters who are racially minoritized. This new category emphasises the diverse nature of the anti-Islam movement.

Further, the second study finds that politically-based grievances are the main grievance but concern relating to Islamic ideology is the overarching narrative, making it the most important grievance. Individuals conceal their anti-Islam arguments with ‘strategically populist’ and ‘strategically liberal’ arguments to appear less culturally racist. However, it finds that while some interviewees hold illiberal and strategically liberal arguments(relating to women’s rights, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual rights and animal rights), others hold semi-liberal arguments, especially previous supporters of left-wing political parties (Berntzen, 2019). This research highlights the need to not only focus on the typical far-right supporter (illiberal, conservative nativist) when researching the British PRR but also on individuals that divert from this type in order to present a more accurate picture of the far-right and counter this threat.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Sibley, A.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Krulišová, K. Thesis supervisor HLI3KRULIK orcid.org/0000-0001-8065-188X Henn, M. Thesis supervisor EPA3HENNMC orcid.org/0000-0002-1063-3544
Date:	September 2023
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	23 Aug 2024 08:23
Last Modified:	23 Aug 2024 08:23
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52072

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