| With
the collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe between 1989
and 1991, right-wing extremist parties have emerged and claimed a
prominence that they have not enjoyed since the early 1940s. The
Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe Since 1989 examines
the activity of these groups in the region stretching from Germany
to Russia. Few, if any, comparable books offer readers an overview
of how the radical right is faring in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia.
Among the countries reviewed, only Slovakia has right-wing extremists
taking their seats as members of the ruling coalition. This volume
shows that radical right activities can have pernicious effects even
if right-wing extremists do not themselves succeed in obtaining seats
in government. As the cases of Germany and Russia show, right-wing
extremist parties may be capable of distorting the political agenda
and forcing the government to take up issues that it might otherwise
have ignored or treated differently. The Croatian and Serbian cases
show that right-wing extremist parties may figure as part of a broader
political milieu when their ideas are already accepted by the political
mainstream.
This volume is designed to give students, scholars, journalists,
and other interested readers a useful introduction to the prospects
of the far right in these post-Communist countries. The contributors
are John D. Bell, Frank Cibulka, Ivan Grdesic, Roger Griffin, Stephen
Hanson, Laszlo Karsai, Julie Mostov, David Ost, Ognjen Pribicevic,
Sabrinia P. Ramet, Rudolf M. Rizman, Michael Shafir, Roman Solchanyk,
and Christopher Williams. |
|
|
