White Poles to the rescue? Transnational dimensions of far-right activism in post-Brexit Britain

A Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre event.

Far-right activism and ideologies continuously morph and adapt to changing contexts and are increasingly reliant on transnationally constructed political ideas, symbols, practices and myths along with transnational membership, resources and legitimization.

This has its own particular effects within the post-Brexit British rise of populism and increasingly hostile anti-immigrant discourses, with increasingly fragmented, rhizomatic and fluid organisational structures. One striking feature is the increasingly international reach to groups and potential members that were previously not on the British far-right radar - or were even once the subjects of attacks and racism.

This seminar will explore transnational dimensions of far-right activism in Britain using several cases drawn from a pioneering ethnographic study looking into Polish immigrants and their descendants' involvement in far-right politics. You can find out more about the study here: Everyday transnationalism of the right.

In particular, the seminar will focus on the Polish minority’s involvement with radical-right parties such as UKIP and Reform UK, cooperation between the ultranationalist and fascist group National Rebirth of Poland and the British extreme right, and links between far-right aligned Polish football fans and National Action.

Organisers and presenters

Rafał Soborski is Professor of International Politics at Richmond American University and Senior Research Fellow at London Met's Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre. His research focuses on globalization, ideology, social movements and the far right, and his publications include the monographs Ideology and the Future of Social Movements (2018) and Ideology in a Global Age: Continuity and Change (2013).

Michał P. Garapich is Professor of Sociology at London Met's School of Social Sciences and Professions. His research expertise falls in broadly understood migration studies, with the focus on migration from Poland, diaspora radicalisation, nationalism, ethnicity, homelessness, political participation, far-right movements, and social resistance. He is the author of London’s Polish Borders: Transnationalizing Class and Ethnicity Among Polish Migrants in London (2016) and Dzieci Kazimierza (2019), and co-author of Migrants as Agents of Change with with Izabela Grabowska, Ewa Jaźwińska and Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna.

Anna Jochymek is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at London Met's School of Social Sciences and Professions. As an interdisciplinary artist, ethnographer, and researcher, her work explores critical questions surrounding social exclusion and marginalization. She has been an Artist-In-Residence at the Geumcheon Art Factory, Seoul and the Performance Space Studio, London, UK.

The Global Diversities and Inequalities Research Centre is a home for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scholarship that explores migration, diasporas, nations, regions and localities through the lenses of diversity and inequality.

This event will be delivered online. The details on how to join will be sent closer to the date.

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Image: March in support of Tommy Robinson, London 27 July 2024.

Image credit: Anna Jochymek

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White Poles to the rescue? Transnational dimensions of far-right activism