Meaning and context in analysing extremism: the banalisation of the far-right in Spanish public controversies

Abstract

Drawing on the analysis of public controversies around violent speech or act, this paper examines the construction of ‘extremism’ in Spain. We explore how differences in public understanding of the limits of the (un)acceptable end up in a process that normalizes far right. We argue that singularities of each country’s political culture play a role in the understanding of extremism. Our paper examines four cases: a public debate on terrorism glorification, an episode of collective violence, a group of retired militaries deploying violence speech, and an episode of anti-Semite speech in a public francoist memorialization. We show how, while certain political expressions are constructed as extreme, other remain in the realm of the normal. Our findings shed light into the process whereby far right is downplayed and clarifies some challenges faced by PVE paradigms.