’Lone wolf’ extremism: a new challenge for Europe

PA 227/11 Events in Norway over the last few days will prove to be a watershed moment in how we approach, and seek to understand, far right groups and their ideology, according to a leading expert in far-right politics at The University of Nottingham. Matthew Goodwin argues that the challenge from right-wing extremism and anti-Muslim sentiment has been dismissed as irrelevant for too long - glossed over in favour of alternative forms of extremism. 'Far right activists will never get their act together', so the argument goes. 'They are disorganized and lack the resources to commit mass murder'. In short, the concept of lone wolves committing mass violence appeared more at home in fiction than political reality. The events in Norway have changed all this, says Goodwin. In his latest blog post ( http://www.matthewjgoodwin.com/ ), Goodwin argues that the conventional wisdom about far right politics and lone wolves has been challenged.