Call for Papers and Presentations – Emotion, Nationalism and Extremism: Contexts and Responses

University of Northampton, Waterside Campus

12 June 2026

This one-day conference will bring together academics and practitioners to consider the emotive nature of contemporary extreme right politics and culture. It will draw attention to current trends in the extreme right, including the growth of new forms of online and offline community building, the politicised use of flags, a turn to nihilistic-seeming themes, and the active roles of male and female protagonists in the fast-changing extreme right space. It seeks to explore the shifting and fuzzy boundaries that distinguish ‘extreme’ positions from the ‘mainstream’. Finally, it asks contributors to assess the affective aspects of the extreme right, and to reflect on the ways a politics of feelings underpins many variants of such contemporary extremisms.

As well as assessing the nature of the extreme right today, the conference also seeks to work towards positive solutions. It will be interdisciplinary and will create a space for sharing knowledge between practitioners who encounter the extreme right in their professional work and academics who research topics related to extreme right culture. We welcome short talks by professionals commenting on their practice, as well as pithy research papers by academics.

We encourage such talks and papers to engage with themes including:

• Rethinking definitions and frameworks for ‘extremism’
• Assessing relationships between ‘extreme’ and ‘mainstream’ contexts
• Long- and short-term trends in extreme right politics and culture
• Comparing past and present forms of extreme right politics
• Gender and extreme right cultures
• Women as activists, influencers and leaders
• Extremism and emotions, affects and feelings
• National, transnational and international extremisms
• Youth, age, stages of life and extremism
• Relationships between online and offline activity
• Nihilism, extreme negativity and extreme right ideation
• Critically assessing terms such as ‘vulnerable’ and ‘at risk’
• Horizon scanning the extreme right space
• How to respond to emotive dimensions of extremism

To submit a proposal for a talk or a paper, please send a 250-word summary and either a CV or a link to an online profile to daniel.jones@northampton.ac.uk by 15 March 2026. We will notify applicants by 20 March 2026.

As well as delivering a presentation, we ask contributors to submit a short blog of their talk, which can be shared within the Extreme Right Research Network, before the event. Depending on interest among contributors, we aim to develop a peer reviewed publication from the conference proceedings.

Please note, this will be an in-person only event. Unfortunately, conference organisers will not be able to cover travel or accommodation costs. There will be no registration fee for presenters.

Paul Jackson

Professor Paul Jackson is a Professor in the History of Radicalism and Extremism at the University of Northampton. He specializes in the history and contemporary dynamics of fascism and the extreme right, and his most recent book is Pride in Prejudice: Understanding Britain’s Extreme Right (2022). He has engaged widely with the media, including national and international press, as well as for BBC radio and television, and he has written articles for the Guardian and the Huffington Post. He has worked with policymakers, professionals and activists, including creating bespoke training packages related to risks posed by the extreme right.