Far-right reflexology: a periphery-to-centre approach for the study of the far-right

ABSTRACTTo address the problem of participant access, central in the study of the far-right, scholars of far-right mobilisations navigate between a methodological rock and a hard place. Either scholars produce in-depth qualitative accounts, putting their safety and ethical commitments at risk, or scholars study far-right mobilisations from a distance and produce limited externalist accounts that centre large surveys, quantitative studies and electoral analysis at the expense of granular detail. Inspired by the medical logics of reflexology, I propose one solution to this impasse that understands the impenetrable centres of far-right networks through their peripheries. I argue that far-right network peripheries—often more accessible to scholars—share personnel, information and resources with network centres, revealing much about these often secretive central organizational nodes.…