Far-Right Publics and Anti-Immigrant Violence: Digital Spaces, Radicalization, and Societal Consequences
7,5 ECTS
Information
Course leaders: Mattias Wahlström and Anton Törnberg
Duration: 1 May - 30 August 2026
Location: Hybrid with on-campus week in Gothenburg 25-29 Juni, 2026.
Language: English
Application period: closes around 15 March 2026, tbc
Course Description
This course explores the contemporary conditions under which far-right publics are formed, mobilized, and legitimized, as well as their societal consequences, in terms of nativist sentiments, authoritarian attitudes, and anti-migrant violence. The course interrogates the “soil” of far-right engagement: the evolving digital and sociopolitical landscapes that enable new publics, discourses, and affective communities to flourish.
Through an interdisciplinary approach grounded primarily in sociology, students will engage with key concepts such as counterpublics, online radicalization, affective circulation, algorithmic visibility, and hybrid media ecologies. The course explores how digital platforms shape far-right narratives and social dynamics, as well as how these dynamics translate into offline consequences, including various forms of anti-migrant violence, including “stochastic terrorism”, “hive terrorism”, and other forms of diffuse, networked aggression.
The course also considers the broader societal consequences of far-right publics and anti-migrant violence: how they influence public discourse, institutional responses, and democratic resilience. The ways in which far-right publics and mobilization have developed during the last decades create both opportunities and challenges for scientific study. For example, the proliferation of digital platforms has increased the availability of some types of data, while at the same time making mechanisms of diffusion and violent escalation more diffused and obscure. Alongside theoretical approaches and research findings, a key component in the course is therefore study design and methodological considerations in the research area. The course combines theoretical inquiry with methodological reflection, supporting students in developing empirical research that links digital ethnography, discourse analysis, or mixed methods to pressing questions of radicalization, publicness, and violence.
The course is seminar-based and includes lectures, student-led discussions, practical workshops, empirical case studies, and assignments that encourage students to apply theories and methods to their own research areas.
Course Lecturers
Mattias Wahlström, University of Gothenburg
Anton Törnberg, University of Gothenburg
More lecturers to be announced
How to Apply
Application period: closes around 15 March 2026, tbc
Contact
For further information contact the course leaders: Mattias Wahlström and Anton Törnberg
About the Graduate School in Migration and Integration
- Our Graduate School courses are offered to PhD students.
- 5 weeks of full-time work for 7,5 ECTS. One intensive week at REMESO, Campus Norrköping, Linköping University or at SOCAV & CGM, University of Gothenburg.
- All courses are taught in English.
- Courses are usually examined by a paper assignment.
- Accommodation is provided for free to all PhD students who are admitted to our courses.
