{"title":"Positionalities of elitist complicity: Building rapport and reducing asymmetries in interviewing the neoliberal right in Chile, Germany, and the UK","authors":"Luciano Santander, Nina Lotze","doi":"10.1162/ecps.a.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/ecps.a.17","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article explores the ideological asymmetries that can arise between researchers and elite informants, based on our experiences interviewing neoliberal and far-right elites in Chile, the UK, and Germany. We examine how reflecting on the co-construction of positionalities between researcher and interviewee can help reduce these asymmetries, improve data credibility, and facilitate access to elite circles. Drawing on Bourdieu's idea of forms of capital, this article develops the concept of ‘positionalities of elitist complicity’, which focuses on how navigating our shared social positions can positively influence interactions. These co-constructed dynamics manifested themselves in three forms: academic hierarchies, heteropatriarchy, and Eurocentrism. Instead of passively accepting these dynamics, we identified and engaged with shared social positions. We accompanied this exercise with ongoing reflection on how common positionalities allowed us to build rapport while maintaining a crucial distance from the participants’ ideas. This article seeks to contribute to research on the ethical and methodological challenges of interviewing in politically polarised environments, particularly at a time when far-right ideas are on the rise globally.","PeriodicalId":37289,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology","volume":"1 1","pages":"1-24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://direct.mit.edu/ecps/article-pdf/doi/10.1162/ECPS.a.17/2562698/ecps.a.17.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147913000","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Just a joke? Humour and gender in a far-right party","authors":"Elisa Bellè","doi":"10.1162/ecps_a_00003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1162/ecps_a_00003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The populist radical right (PRR), or far right, frequently resorts to jokes, irony, and humour, particularly in relation to major markers of ideology and identity such as gender/sexuality. Despite the empirical factuality of such humour—from the sexist outbursts of Trump to the homophobic jokes of Bolsonaro—few contributions have analysed the humoristic performances of this political family. The article aims to fill this gap by focusing on the Italian League (former Northern League). Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a local branch, I identify two main humorous codes, corresponding to two different socio-political functions: ‘humour as male-inflicted punishment’ and ‘humour as virility battle’. The paper illuminates the intertwinement of power and gender hierarchies, reproduced through sexist humour in the branch. It also shows how humoristic codes employed by national leaders circulate in the branch, in a process of remodulation of gender, ideology, and sexism between micro and macro levels of politics.","PeriodicalId":37289,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology","volume":"12 1","pages":"34-56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://direct.mit.edu/ecps/article-pdf/12/1/34/2523473/ecps_a_00003.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147894430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The far right in Spain: An ‘exception’ to what? Challenging conventions in the study of populism through innovative methodologies","authors":"Roni Küppers","doi":"10.1080/23254823.2024.2321905","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23254823.2024.2321905","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37289,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology","volume":"138 S251","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140429262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring the limits and boundaries between cultural practices and political values in contemporary Finland","authors":"Sara Sivonen, Riie Heikkilä","doi":"10.1080/23254823.2024.2302600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23254823.2024.2302600","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37289,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology","volume":"91 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139593314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deserved. Economic memories after the fall of the Iron Curtain\u0000 Deserved. Economic memories after the fall of the Iron Curtain\u0000 , by Till Hilmar, New York, Columbia University Press, 2023, 227 pp., $35.00 (Paperback), ISBN: 9780231209793","authors":"Martin Hájek","doi":"10.1080/23254823.2024.2303921","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/23254823.2024.2303921","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":37289,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology","volume":" 25","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139619525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}