Community Leads: Aurelien Mondon (PI), Fran Amery, Sophie Hatzisavvidou (University of Bath); Uygar Baspehlivan (University of Bristol); Emmy Eklundh (Cardiff University); Rebecca Yeo (University of Exeter)
The threat and mainstreaming of far-right, reactionary politics has become one of the most pressing concerns for many democracies and communities around the world. Yet, at present, there have been few attempts at tackling this issue in an intersectional manner.
By bringing together scholars from different fields and disciplines, the GW4 Reactionary Politics Research Network aimed to study and tackle the rise of exclusionary, authoritarian and reactionary politics.
Led by Professor Aurelien Mondon of the University of Bath, the network planned to develop a platform to disseminate research, good practice and build larger research projects with the aim of developing a sustainable network on this issue which is so key to democracies.
Fundamental to the work was the bringing together of scholars to work collaboratively on breaking down silos and to ensure a more intersectional approach around exclusionary politics such as racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ+ politics, hostility towards migrants, and the removal of services from disabled people.
In 2024, the community were awarded funding as part of GW4’s Building Communities Generator Award. The GW4 Building Communities Generator Fund is an open research call offering up to £20k to support collaborative research and innovation communities across the four GW4 universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter. It supports both the creation of new GW4 communities and the development of the strongest ideas emerging from our existing communities.
The funding enabled an initial two-day workshop for researchers across GW4 and the wider Southwest, formalising the network, its objectives and its longer-term aims. The network has developed a large membership, gaining significant visibility through the events organised as part of their GW4 collaboration.
The GW4 Generator Fund further enabled training opportunities for ECRs and more established colleagues in areas around the ethics and methods of researching reactionary politics in a well-rounded, intersectional way. A two-day summer school was one of the principal ways in which this training was disseminated: over the two days, over 50 people attended. Many of the participants were based in the UK, but the bursaries and hybrid nature of the event allowed the participation of people from India, Portugal, Greece, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Australia, Switzerland, Ireland, Turkey, Brazil, Romania, Canada, France and Singapore.
The network now has a website which has become a vibrant repository of its research, and an edited book is in progress. The group have also submitted two funding applications.
Professor Aurelien Mondon (University of Bath), Principal Investigator of the Reactionary Politics Research Network, said: “The GW4 Generator Fund was a brilliant experience overall, allowing us to establish our research network and get it off the ground, clearly meeting a need – as demonstrated by our members’ strong engagement. The funding has been an essential stepping stone for us, supporting a wide range of activities, including workshops, training opportunities, membership growth and events."
GW4 Building Communities
The GW4 Building Communities Programme aims to build research and innovation communities of scale and capability, delivering a step change in world-class research that could not be achieved by one of the institutions alone. The Programme has two funding schemes:
- The annual Generator Fund which awards GW4 communities up to £20K for 6-month projects.
- The Development Awards which support new, and advance existing, collaborations across GW4 by funding single activities or resources with up to £5K. This is a rolling scheme, with no closing date.
More details of both schemes, and how to apply, can be found at the links above.
The GW4 Generator Fund was a brilliant experience overall, allowing us to establish our research network and get it off the ground, clearly meeting a need – as demonstrated by our members’ strong engagement. The funding has been an essential stepping stone for us, supporting a wide range of activities, including workshops, training opportunities, membership growth and events.”
