Narratives, Memory, and Political Radicalisation

Abstract

This panel explores how narratives, collective memory, and conspiratorial worldviews shape political attitudes, mobilisation, and radicalisation in Central and Eastern Europe. The included papers examine an eclectic (yet fascinating) mix of phenomena, from the psychological effects of national victimhood narratives on Polish youth to diaspora mobilisation strategies employed by Romanian far-right actors, and the manifestation of foreign, security, and defence policies by CEE far-right parties. Other studies within the panel investigate the production and reception of conspiracy narratives in Austria or highlight how appeals to “good versus evil” increasingly legitimise the delegitimisation of opponents. Using a variety of research designs (experimental, survey, qualitative, and discourse-based), the works collectively showcase how narratives and rhetorical strategies reinforce ideological commitments and drive political engagement. Moreover, across individual, societal, and party-political contexts, these studies illuminate how narrative frameworks, conspiratorial thinking, and rhetoric intersect to shape mobilisation, polarisation, and the dynamics of democratic contestation in the CEE region.

Title	Details
Does the Side of the Iron Curtain Matter for Foreign Policy? Exploring the Positions of Far-Right Parties from Western and Central-Eastern Europe on Global Affairs, Security, and Defense.	View Paper Details
Institutional Distrust, Conspiracy Worldviews and Political Discourse. Conceptualizing the Dynamic Between Conspiracy Narratives and Worldviews.	View Paper Details
Populism Redux: How Manichaeism Drives Anti-Liberalism and Democratic Backsliding	View Paper Details
Transnational Mobilisation and the Structural Limits of Far-Right Support in the Romanian Diaspora	View Paper Details
'Remember That We Suffered': The Influence of Narratives About National Victimhood on Attitudes Towards Extremism	View Paper Details