The Spanish extreme right and the Internet

Abstract

This article investigates the potential role of the Internet for Spanish extremist right-wing organizations for their contacts (at the national as well as at the international level), the promotion of a collective identity and their mobilization. To address this issue, it employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative research techniques. A social network analysis, based on online links between about 90 Spanish extreme right organizations, aims to investigate the organizational (online) structure of the right-wing Spanish milieu, and a content analysis of right wing web sites to grasp the degree and forms of their Internet’s usage for various goals. The analysis focuses on different types of Spanish extreme right organizations (from political parties to skinhead and cultural groups). The results are interpreted against the off line political and cultural setting of opportunities and constraints offered by the country.