Recommendations and Areas for Future Research

This report has provided the research field with an up-to-date and comprehensive review of RWE in the Nordic countries. Furthermore, it provided new insights into how transnational the milieu has been and is today. A considerable change in the milieus is that the types of actors have become more varied than in the past. From being an organizational-based, authoritarian top-down managed milieu historically, RWE in the Nordics is a much more diverse milieu. Much of this development can be contributed to the digitalization of RWE, where RWE culture is spread to temporary social movements, social media groups, individuals, and, still very importantly, traditional organizations such as the NMR. We have also shown how the increased pan-Nordicness and digitalization of the RWE milieu still lacks corresponding preventive measures. Here, much work remains to be done.

In this section, we outline what we believe should be done to tackle some of the problems addressed in our report.

Policy recommendations

Based on our report, we suggest politicians and policymakers in the Nordic countries investigate and initiate the below actions. With the history and contemporary features of RWE in mind, there are strong reasons to believe that the ideology and actors of RWE will be a Nordic issue within the indefinite future. As we have shown in this report, the milieu is also becoming increasingly transnational and pan-Nordic. This development calls for new policies, structures, and practices to be formed, and efforts to increase the political and public awareness about the pan-Nordic nature of the problem are needed. A common thread in the recommendations below is that a Nordic problem must be dealt with using Nordic solutions.

Integrate RWE as a special subject of the Nordic police cooperation

The Nordic police cooperation has been strengthened gradually since the 1990s with the intention of combating and preventing serious cross-border crime that exploits the region’s high level of integration and openness. Because RWE groups are traveling between the Nordic countries to demonstrate and/or participate in other physical and public meetings, often with violent clashes with the police or counterdemonstrators as a result, we suggest RWE be integrated as a special subject of the Nordic police cooperation. The Nordic police agencies should establish a specific unit of police officers who are responsible of, for example, continuously exchanging information about the pan-Nordic actions of RWE groups and actors, collaborate in cases of legal trespassing, and exchange experiences of how to deal with RWE actors during, for example, demonstrations. An intensified Nordic police cooperation on RWE could also lead to the development of new policies to streamline police actions during RWE demonstrations or in cases where right-wing extremists who have been arrested in a neighboring Nordic country. A common Nordic police strategy during demonstrations could potentially contribute to less violence because both parties know what to expect from the other, so the room for misunderstandings diminishes. A common strategy of how to deal with those arrested in a neighboring Nordic country could also lead to a more effective and informed follow-up work by other governmental units, for example, the social services.

Develop a Nordic forum for EXIT-work and workers

EXIT-work to facilitate the disengagement and/or deradicalization of right-wing extremists exists, or is under development, to some degree in all Nordic countries, although being organized differently. Although the extremists speak different national tongues, they all speak the language of hate. This observation is of importance in relation to EXIT-work, which is to be considered an important preventive practice against RWE. We recommend the Nordic Council of Ministers, or any other relevant administrative body, to facilitate or, alternatively, provide funds for other actors to establish a forum for information and experience exchange, training, methods development, and evaluation. The importance of EXIT-work and the pan-Nordicness of RWE motivates an organization of EXIT-approaches that take the transnational dimension into consideration.

Problem-based municipal cooperation

Today, Nordic municipalities first and foremost collaborate based on geographics (i.e., border-close municipalities) or size (i.e., Nordic capitals). To facilitate better information exchange, intermunicipal learning, and methods development, we suggest increased cooperation between those Nordic municipalities with a high degree of problem with RWE. Such cooperation could be facilitated through Nordic Safe Cities or other Nordic organization supporting municipalities and be given funds to ensure the stability and continuity of such a collaborative forum.

Online prevention toward adults and elderly is missing

One contemporary feature of RWE in the Nordics is its digital transformance. The milieu has changed dramatically over the past 20 years or so. Today, from previously being spread mainly through manifestations, concerts, and street activism, the ideology and culture of RWE is today spread and consumed digitally. Consequently, we have seen an increased number of lone actors who have radicalized online. The societal response to this digitalized transformation has been slow, and to date, few online prevention initiatives exist. Of those existing, they are focusing on youth. This is an important target group, but research has indicated that the problem of online radicalization among adults and the elderly are equally, if not more, concerning. Hence, we suggest the Nordic Council of Ministers and the respective Nordic national governments to provide additional funds for public and nonpublic actors to develop new prevention models and projects for online purposes directed at adults and the elderly. Equally important is to enable researchers or other evaluators to study such projects so that we can learn more about what approaches are successful.

Future research

Based on our literature review, we have identified the following areas in need of more research.

Gaps in the story of RWE in the Nordics

First and foremost, we have noticed a general lack of studies on the pan-Nordic aspects of RWE. The main reason is that methodological nationalism is, to a large extent, the prevailing approach. This might be a reflection of how research grants are provided in the Nordic countries because they tend to be nationally focused, reactive, and (too) problem oriented, which can lead to a lack of historical and ethnographic depth. Here, specific research grants focusing on the pan-Nordic dimensions of extremism (i.e., also for militant Islamic and left-wing milieus) would be of great value and something that NordForsk could provide. We also have observed the following, more specific gaps:

The Cold War period is seriously understudied, even though the groups of the period provide models and inspiration for the current movements.
On the other side of the methodological spectra, there is also a lack of studies taking a serious local approach. This is equally important because specific places have been continuously centers of activism for decades.
The media attention toward and visibility of a group does not necessarily correspond with its actual strength or the threat it poses. The focus of research is often too much on formal, nationwide organizations, whereas threat assessments stress lone actors or small local groups as being more dangerous.
One distinctive area in need of more research concerns the NRM. There are several studies on the NRM regarding their national sections, but the studies have not shown how national sections interact, train together, exchange ideas, and form a pan-Nordic ideology. Additionally, because the research has stayed within the limits of the national borders, the entangled history of the group is ignored, and apparent frictions between national chapters remain unacknowledged. We also still know very little of who the NMR activist is on a somewhat aggregated level. Although case studies exist, we lack larger population studies that could enlighten us on where the activists originate from, their school successes, labor market connections, and moving patterns, to name a few variables of interest.

More evaluation on prevention practices

There is little doubt that the Nordic countries have engaged in the battle against extremism. There is a plethora of policies on the national, regional, and municipal levels promoting and encouraging public institutions and CSOs to contribute to the struggle. Nonetheless, the field has been incrementally developed and evidence on what works has been scarce or even nonexistent. The following aspects could benefit from more knowledge:

The field would benefit from evidence-based practices. However, it is notoriously difficult to monitor and validate the efficiency of preventive actions because external factors cannot be ruled out and because of ethical considerations regarding the control groups. Research grant providers should encourage scholars from the field of terrorism and extremism to team up with the scholars of theory of science to develop new methods for evaluating prevention practices.
In Norway and Sweden, the promotion of tolerance and democracy through education is dominating the prevention discourse. Considering the general character of these approaches, an evaluation and investigation of the active mechanisms to change can give important information on its efficiency and meaning.
It is common to use already existing models and methods for preventing and countering RWE based on the foundation that they have been functional in other contexts. There is no evidence for this being correct. It is of interest to map out and research if such translations are fruitful and effective.

Recommen­dations and Areas for Future Research