XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology (July 15-21, 2018)

343

Unpacking the Rebranding of Right-Wing Politics in Contemporary Global Era

RC18 Political Sociology (host committee)

Language: Spanish and English

Right wing parties -and leaders- are becoming increasingly influential in Western European democracies and in the Americas, although showing a broad diversity of organisational, ideological, and sociographic features. In these respects, academic literature distinguishes far-right expressions, such as Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, Marine Le Pen’s National Front, Nigel Farage’s UKIP or Donald Trump’s populism, from centre-right political formations such as The Republicans (France), Mauricio Macri’s Republican Proposal, Chile Vamos alliance or the “new” brazilian right that took part in Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment. Though Europe’s far-right parties differ in important aspects, they are motivated by a common sense of mission: to save their homelands from what they view as the corrosive effects of multiculturalism and globalisation by creating a closed-off, ethnically homogeneous society. Meanwhile, it is more difficult to define overarching trends between centre-right parties that have been understudied comparatively. This session thus aims to take some first steps towards this global comparison, focusing on the societal implantation strategies of these political forces, on the role of leadership in their construction and success, and on their capacity for renovation. Papers addressing both empirically and comparatively the issue of changes and continuities (ideological, organisational…) within such partisan and/or leadership expressions will be particularly welcomed.