The ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy was founded in 1999 by Roger Eatwell (Bath University) and Cas Mudde (DePauw University). The current co-convenors are David Art (Tufts University) and Elisabeth Carter (Keele University). The Standing Group provides a platform and infrastructure to the broad range of scholars working on various aspects of 'extremism and democracy' around the world. We welcome scholars from fields such as sociology, (social) psychology or (contemporary) history. However, as a Standing Group of the European Consortium of Political Science (ECPR), our main focus is on the political aspects of extremism. Moreover, and in keeping with the ECPR-tradition, we particularly welcome scholars who work in a comparative spirit.

Focus

The Standing Group is academically neutral and is not meant to become a battle ground for the unfortunate ideological battles that have hampered much research on political extremism. Rather, it provides a meeting ground for serious scholars from all theoretical persuasions. Although we use the term 'extremism', we do not want to exclude scholars working with other terms to describe similar phenomena (such as fascism, fundamentalism, populism, radicalism, terrorism etc).

While most contemporary academic studies of extremism still study the phenomenon in isolation of its environment, the Standing Group's name indicates its interest in the political role of extremism, as well as the specifics of the phenomenon itself. We are particularly interested in the (inter-)relation between extremism and democracy. Thereby, the focus can be also on democracy, i.e. how democracy can fight extremism without becoming extremist itself. In addition to political theoretical/philosophical studies this could also include empirical work into (comparative) 'anti-extremist' provisions in different world polities and their effects. In other words, we aim to integrate colleagues working on topics as diverse as:

• extreme right parties in Western Europe;
• communist organisations in the post-Soviet space;
• Jewish terrorists in Israel;
• religious fundamentalism in the Middle East;
• populism in Latin America;
• eco-warriors in the UK;
• anti-globalisation groups in the US;
• political violence in South Africa;
• contentious politics in New Zealand;
• Hindu radicalism in India, etcetera.

Activities

The Standing Group maintains a searchable database that contains the contact information and research interests of Standing Group members. The database has proved to be a valuable resource to academics, students, and the media.

Since 2000, the Standing Group has also published a quartely electronic newsletter, e-Extreme, which contains news from the profession and alerts scholars to conferences, fellowships, recent publications, and publication opportunities. The newsletter also contains an extensive book review section.

The Standing Group aims to be represented at ECPR conferences (Joint Sessions, General Conferences, and Graduate Conferences) and organize panels there whenever possible.

Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin edit the Routledge Book Series in Extremism and Democracy, in which members and non-members can publish research monographs and edited volumes that deal with questions of extremism and democracy.