📢 Blog Post #15, by VUB Team, is now live! What looks like individual hostility often reflects deeper dynamics of frustration, perceived injustice, and emotional displacement. 🔗 www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-... #PLEDGEProject #Democracy #sexism #harassment

PLEDGE, PROTEMO, MORES, and CIDAPE invite you to join our Online Colloquium on Emotions and Democracy 🎯 on 27 March. This session explores how “cringe” communication 😬 is evolving into a powerful political tool. Join here 🔗: www.pledgeproject.eu/join-our-onl... #PLEDGEProject #EU #cringe

🎥 In this short video, Chris reflects on why understanding citizens’ emotions is essential for rebuilding trust and strengthening democratic governance. #PLEDGEProject #Democracy #GrievancePolitics #CivicEngagement 🤝

📢 New PLEDGE blog post #13 by IPU Berlin team. How can policymakers listen to emotions without reinforcing polarization? Read the latest insights from the PLEDGE research. 🔗 www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-... #PLEDGEProject #Democracy #Polarization

Immersion is not neutral. #PLEDGE Blogpost #12 shows how VR becomes a medium for grievance politics, turning victimhood, heroism & ressentiment into lived experience. Storyliving → affective bonding → political meaning 🔗 bitly.cx/LkY81 #VirtualReality #GrievancePolitics #PoliticalEmotions #EU

Short videos are reshaping political exposure in Europe. Our new study on the #EuropeanElections2024 shows how algorithmic feeds structure visibility, grievances & political content across ideological pathways. Algorithms → emotional content → democratic resilience 🔗 bitly.cx/0mLs #PLEDGE #eu

Ressentiment as a political resource. Our new article shows how Erdoğan reframes collective victimhood into moral triumph — turning shared emotions into durable political loyalty. Victimhood → affective bonding → authoritarian resilience ❌ 🔗 bitly.cx/6QJK #PLEDGE #GrievancePolitics #Populism

Grievance can become a pathway to radicalisation. #PLEDGE Blogpost #5 explores how humiliation, exclusion & status loss shape the emotional tipping points towards democratic disavowal — or belonging. 🔗 bitly.cx/o85Qe #GrievancePolitics #Democracy #EU

Emotions are not side effects of politics. They shape it. In #4 of the Grievance Politics Briefings🤝, we explore how humiliation, frustration and powerless anger redefine how citizens relate to democracy. - Read more: www.pledgeproject.eu/4-emotion-se... #PLEDGE #GrievancePolitics #Democracy

📘 PLEDGE Policy Brief #2 is out Emotions are shaping democratic trust in times of polycrisis. 🔗 Read the Policy Brief: mailchi.mp/d89cbd495989... #PLEDGEproject #PolicyBrief #DemocraticGovernance #Research #GrievancePolitics #EU

Another morning, another article mentioning the "hard right"... This may seem trivial but the use of terms that euphemise far-right politics and deflect from the threat they pose matters a lot See @gsamaras.bsky.social 's brilliant article on the "hard right" www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

📣Online book launch 📣 Join us on Zoom (Feb 10, 7pm GMT / 11am PST) for the launch of The Far Right and the Media: International Trends and Perspectives, exploring how media systems shape the visibility and normalization of far-right ideas in today’s digital world. reacpol.net/farright-med...

If you want some background on Matthew Goodwin, I wrote a couple of years ago about his kind of grifter, their reactionary bad faith politics and how they are in service of the powerful and enabled by the mainstream elite jacobin.com/2023/05/righ...

In our latest blogpost #11 by Prof. Tereza Capelos, we argue that grievance politics grows when policies ignore how people feel. ⚖️Emotionally attuned co-production is essential for rebuilding trust and democratic resilience in times of crisis. 🧠Read more: www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-...

❇️ FirstView – 🔍 Research @gsamaras.bsky.social presents the first systematic study of how 7 major English-language outlets used the term “Hard-Right”. 👉 buff.ly/WdoSNLx @theguardian.com The BBC @politico.com @newstatesman1913.bsky.social @economist.com @reuters.com @financialtimes.com

- Myriad tractors 🚜 running on burning emotion, not fuel 🔥. This isn’t just about agriculture or policy tweaks. It’s a masterclass in how grievance, identity, and storytelling turn protest into political pressure.

🔍In this expert interview, Professor Tereza Capelos unpacks how grievance functions as an emotional anchor shaping political behaviour. ▶️ Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel or via the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO5p... #GrievancePolitics #Populism #Democracy #PoliticalPsychology

Politics stops solving problems. Then it starts blaming people. In our new clip, Dr. Gabriella Szabo unpacks how blame and emotional manipulation fuel grievance politics and polarisation. 👉 Watch and reflect: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOOK...

Come work with us! New PhD / Postdoc positions here at the Digital Democracy Centre! 👇

Hello again, algorithm. Just published in JDSR: My new article explores how social media shape far-right and liberal fantasies of security, belonging, and “love” through affect and algorithmic power. Thanks to WASP-HS & @pledge-project.bsky.social for their support. publicera.kb.se/jdsr/article...

In Part II 🔥 of PLEDGE's Blog Post: Youth Radicalism in Europe, Ayhan Kaya unpacks how nativist and Muslim-origin youth are co-radicalised by shared experiences of precarity, marginalisation, and political neglect. Read more: www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-... #Democracy #grievances #extremism

📣New interview📣 'Terms like “detransitioner,” like “transitioner,” reduce people to the act of transitioning and frame transitioning as an extremist act or impulsive decision' @katfuller.bsky.social discusses transphobic moral panics on the far right. reacpol.net/moral-panic-...

PLEDGE invites everyone to the book launch of "The Birth and Death of Liberal Democracy in Hungary" on 8 December 2025. The event will explore how polarisation has reshaped democratic life, with insights from Emilia Palonen and international experts. Participation is available online. 📚✨

Our workshop “From Understanding to Action: Co-Creating Democratic Innovation with CSOs” was a great success!!! 🎉 🙌A big thank you to all civil society practitioners, partners and contributors who shared their insights and experiences. #PLEDGE #GrievancePolitics #Innovation

📢 Are you a CSO or NGO representative interested in strengthening democratic innovation? Secure your position by registering, via www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-invit... #PLEDGEproject #Workshop #Democracy #EU

Across Europe, young people are searching for belonging in divided societies. Some turn to nationalism, others to religion — but both paths reveal a deeper crisis of meaning and connection. Read PLEDGE Blog post #9 👉 www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-... #PLEDGE #democracy #radicalisation

🌀 PLEDGE Blog #8 When crisis hits, emotions become the jet fuel of our information ecosystem. 📖 Read more: www.pledgeproject.eu/fear-anger-a... #PLEDGE #Disinformation #ClimateCrisis #MediaLiteracy #EmotionsInPolitics

📣 Join us for two keynote lectures as part of the symposium “Historicizing Populism: From the Classics to the Contemporary”, hosted by the University of Helsinki within the PLEDGE Project. 💻 Watch live: video.helsinki.fi/unitube/live... #PLEDGE #Populism #Democracy #PoliticalScience #PublicTalks

🌍 When was the last time you were trained by three top-notch EU projects simultaneously? 👉 Learn more: www.pledgeproject.eu/joint-worksh... 🎟 Register now via the link or QR code and be part of this collaborative discussion! #PolicyMaking #ResearchToPolicy #PLEDGE #PolicyInnovation

🎧 “Life is Crap” — Hungary’s viral anthem — turns youth frustration into protest. When music meets grievance politics, pain becomes power and despair becomes solidarity. 💥🇭🇺 Listen here 👉https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS2xr9mxD0s #PLEDGEProject #GrievancePolitics #YouthVoices #CulturalResistance

In the latest PLEDGE blog from the UNIWARSAW team, we explore how debates around gender justice often devolve into zero-sum battles over who has more suffering — fueling resentment and polarization. 🔗 Read more: www.pledgeproject.eu/pledge-blog-... #democracy #EU #grievance #Politics

🌍 Join us for a series of breakfast meetings this Fall on rising extremism and pressuring democracies! 📍25 Aug: PM Jonas Gahr Støre on what Norway can do📍 24 Sep: Normalization of the Extreme 📍 23 Oct: Democracy's Resilience 📍 19 Nov: Academia Under Attack. www.sv.uio.no/c-rex/aktuel...

is this the last time I promote my most recent video, on Kierkegaard's The Present Age and why nothing ever happens? maybe? probably? hopefully? www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Mu...

📣New interview📣 ''Polarisation’ is used not only by those concerned with democratic erosion, but also by those seeking to protect ‘really existing (neo)liberalism’ from democratic critique' @daniel-balinhas.bsky.social discusses his critical approach to 'polarisation' reacpol.net/critical-pol...

I got interviewed about my PhD thesis on the relationship between neoliberal social media and the normalisation of far-right fantasies by @reacpolrn.bsky.social the Reactionary Politics Research Network. Many thanks to @aurelmondon.bsky.social for conducting the interview!

🎉 Vol 51(3) is out!🎉 This issue includes TEN research articles on topics like emotions, right-wing enjoyment, and mediation in international friendship. The articles are all free to read this month, so be sure to take a look and enjoy 👇 📚Read Here ➡️ buff.ly/OSuztti

Neo-Nazi “Active Clubs,” have expanded into Finland, blending MMA with white supremacist ideology to radicalize youth. GPAHE has tracked over 230 chapters worldwide—including new Finnish branches linked to banned and violent extremist networks. Read more:

Find someone who loves you as much as the mainstream media loves hyping the far right

Our member @k8ebrown.bsky.social reflects on Keir Starmer's embrace of far-right rhetoric on migration in @theconversation.com.

Under Project 2025, Native America is being erased from the federal record. From the removal of Navajo Code Talkers' history to the deletion of reports on missing Indigenous women, the dismantling of Native sovereignty is underway—and it’s a direct attack on legal and cultural rights.

We're marking down the entire Verso World History Series - including pre-orders for The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World

Exceptionally long, but familiarly pompous and uniformed, puff piece on the “good” nativism of Mette Frederiksen in Denmark. Completely ignores most basic data and, of course, any academic research. Some quick points 🧵

Yesterday I defended my PhD thesis - dealing with far-right normalisation and social media politics - at Karlstad University. I want to thank my opponent, Prof. Jason Glynos, for the wonderful discussion, as well as the committee, supervisors, colleagues, friends and family for their huge support.

Meta’s policy changes have allowed neo-Nazi content to flourish on Instagram, with accounts openly spreading hate, antisemitic rhetoric, and Nazi symbols while profiting from it. This unchecked extremism is spreading faster than ever. Read more: globalextremism.org/post/neo-naz...

As many European far-right leaders gathered in Madrid, Viktor Orbán said "yesterday we were heretics, today we are mainstream" He is not wrong but it's not because of their own success or the popularity of their politics but because of the wilful capitulation of the crumbling (former) mainstream

There is no choice but to take decisive and radical action if we are to turn the tide against the dystopian reactionary tech oligarchy @jfarkas.bsky.social and I in the @bylinetimes.bsky.social bylinetimes.com/2025/01/26/t...

My article "The role of right-wing enjoyment in the normalisation of the far-right" has been published in @risjnl.bsky.social Review of International Studies. I investigate how right-wing liberals, moderates, and conservatives - once disavowing the far-right - enjoy political victories alongside it.

Although anti-populism has a place for ‘the people’, it ultimately aims at the restoration of responsible elite rule: government for the people, rather than of or by them @alexyates2000.bsky.social and I in @bjpir.bsky.social

First as tragedy, then as farce.