Welcome to the first blog post of the Far Right Analysis Network! We wanted to use this space to outline some of the changes that have occurred in the reformation of our organization between 2021 and 2023. These important processes have radically changed our structure in order to better suit a network of scholars who remain more committed than ever to our core principles.
We are a newly constituted organization based on shared values of solidarity against fascism and the support for democratic principles. We are a professional, transparent and global network of researchers, practitioners, and journalists committed to analyzing fascism, authoritarianism, supremacism, and the radical right/far right/extreme right so as to help counter it.
Created from the foundations of the group Center for Analysis of the Radical Right, which gave many of us our start in the academic field, we seek to promote, through our fellows’ insights, cutting-edge scholarship, interventions, and policies to address contemporary threats. We will provide expertise to those in the media and the public who wish to learn more about this issue as a democratic and transparent network that defends democracy and takes a democratic and transparent approach to its governance structures.
There can be no ambiguity or false equivalences. FRAN is committed to the values of transparency, diversity, inclusion, respect, pluralism, and dignity. Our mission is to be an inclusive and progressive organization committed to the wellbeing and scholarship of all fellows, with particular attention to protecting those frequently targeted by harassment, discrimination, and abuse, including female and non-cis researchers and those from the Global South and LGBTQ+ communities.
As the Center for Analysis of the Radical Right, many of our members developed social and intellectual bonds through energetic and rigorous, academic praxis. Yet events indicated that the organizational form was not fit for purpose. Rather than disintegrate the foundation that brought us joy and excitement in pursuit of the truth, we developed a fundamentally new mode of organization and focus as the Far Right Analysis Network. They describe a system of committees that require a total of at least 18 members (i.e., at least three fellows on each committee) to operate the organization.
Our system involves five, discrete committees overseeing (1) the executive management of the network, (2) editorial functions of the blog, (3) media and communications coordination, (4) fellowship onboarding and review, and of course (5) funding and partnership. The network, itself, is undergirded by Research Units covering topics, disciplines, and subfields that fellows enjoy researching, discussing, and writing about. We currently maintain a fellowship list of some eighty academics, many of whom have terminal degrees in their fields, and will open up our rolls to incoming membership applications in due course.
We hope that FRAN’s new procedures both streamline and democratize the constitution of our governing committees, ensuring that the organization meets the needs of the fellows for whom it exists. Our new structure aims to resolve issues that created problems earlier this year through clarifying FRAN’s ethos as a transparent, global and professional network, adopting a more democratically-accountable, horizontal structure headed by an elected executive committee, and codifying editorial rules and fellowship review/onboarding procedures, in order to put the organization on more sustainable and accountable footing going forward.
As of now, we are accepting submissions for articles to publish on our blog. These articles can include breaking news, long-form analyses, data-driven reports, and expert opinions. For more information, please send brief story pitches to editorial@farrightanalysisnetwork.com.
Thank you for your patience in the reformation process of FRAN. We hope our readers will become active participants in promoting a safe and equitable future for all. Stay tuned for more webinars, events, and articles to come!