This book offers the first comparative study of far-right messaging and organizing efforts at the workplace level as well as responses by established trade unions, encompassing six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with workers and trade union actors with a focus on the automobile industry, the volume develops a classification of far-right strategies and trade union counter-strategies in comparative perspective. Based on a research project in cooperation with trade unions, the book is situated at the interface of comparative politics, industrial sociology, political economy, and political sociology.
"Thanks to its robust comparative design covering paradigmatic cases in Western and Eastern Europe and the authors' careful attention to the interplay between demand and supply of far-right politics among workers, The Far Right in the Workplace is a major success and a pathbreaking contribution to a crowded field. The book offers much to learn to sociologists and political scientists as well as to trade unionists and political practitioners. A must-read for everyone interested in the roots of the far right and the future of labor politics."
- Gábor Scheiring, Bocconi University
"This is a very important contribution to the study of the far right and, in particular, to the much discussed and yet widely contested relationship between the far right and workers. The early clarification of key terms, often taken for granted, such as far right and working class is particularly important and makes the case studies all the more convincing and interesting. At a time when the mainstreaming of far-right politics is ever present, this critical account is an essential read for anyone interested in these issues."
- Aurélien Mondon, University of Bath
This book offers the first comparative study of far-right messaging and organizing efforts at the workplace level as well as responses by established trade unions, encompassing six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with workers and trade union actors with a focus on the automobile industry, the volume develops a classification of far-right strategies and trade union counter-strategies in comparative perspective. Based on a research project in cooperation with trade unions, the book is situated at the interface of comparative politics, industrial sociology, political economy, and political sociology.
Seongcheol Kim is a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany.
Samuel Greef is a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany.
Wolfgang Schroeder is Professor and Chair for Political System of Germany in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany.