The radical right as social movement organizations

Typically in sociology and political science, the radical right has been addressed through so-called breakdown theories, while left-wing radicalism has been analyzed from the perspective of mobilization theories, which are widespread in social movement studies. The chapter uses concepts taken from social movement studies in order to provide an overview of some scholarship on the contemporary radical right, looking first of all at the organizational structure in the radical right milieu and considering the complex interplay among various actors linked to each other in cooperative as well as competitive interactions. Second, it suggests that these networks use a broad repertoire of collective action. Third, and in line with the “cultural turn” in social movement research, we consider the frames through which the collective actors involved in the radical right construct and communicate their (internal and external) reality.