A centre dedicated to studying the extreme far right
and anti-Muslim attacks has been established by a university.
The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist
Studies, launched by Teesside University, will look at the historical
developments of far-right politics.
Professor Nigel Copsey, along with his colleague, Dr
Matthew Feldman, will open the centre at an event to commemorate National
Holocaust Memorial Day later this month.
Speaking before the launch, Prof Copsey said recent
developments in far-right politics led them to believe there could be more
attacks like the one carried out by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in 2011.
"Over the last year there is no evidence for
increased support for the far right. The BNP are fragmented and split and there
is growing disillusionment with the EDL," he said.
"All these developments mean we argue it could
lead right-wing extremists to think of more extreme actions, like Breivik.
"I'm not saying this will definitely happen but,
because of the developments in the far right, there's a vacuum and it raises
the potential for more violent actions."
The centre will also look at the opposition to
far-right groups and how successful anti-fascist protests are, as well as
far-right anti-Muslim activity.
Dr Feldman said: "An important development in
radical right activism this century is, without doubt, the turn from
anti-Semitism toward anti-Muslim politics.
"One of the things we will be looking at is a
quantifiable analysis of far right participation in anti-Muslim attacks."
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