Diversity in Unity? A concentric approach to the rise of Golden Dawn

Neo-Nazi party, extreme right movement, street militia, criminal organization: The challenge to assign Golden Dawn to established categories of far-right research proved difficult and highly depends on the researcher’s perspective. As in other cases, to detect a moving target that equilibrates ideologically between neo-Nazism and mainstream nationalism and organizationally between subcultural militia and legal political party triggers inaccuracy. Hence, more dynamic approaches are needed that go beyond essentialist categorizations of far-right actors to understand and explain successful mobilization patterns and electoral campaigns. Using the example of Golden Dawn, this paper will provide a multi-scalar perspective on the organization of far-right actors. It will discuss the concentric constitution of Golden Dawn and contextualize its acting into broader support networks. By doing so, I aim to draw attention to hybrid models of organization emphasizing distinctions between the hierarchical core and the heterarchical periphery as well as diverse relationships with its organizational field.