En tant que chercheur, J'ai suivi divers groupes et mouvements d'extrême droite en Norvège et en Scandinavie au cours des 30 dernières années. Il y a eu des changements importants au cours de cette période - des changements qui ont un impact sur la façon dont notre société devrait se rapporter à de tels milieux, et quels types de mesures préventives pourraient être pertinentes et efficaces.

D'abord, qu'entendons-nous par des concepts tels que l'extrémisme de droite ? Dans les recherches sur la soi-disant extrême droite, il est largement admis parmi les universitaires de faire une distinction entre la droite radicale et l'extrême droite. Ils partagent une certaine forme de nativisme ou de nationalisme ethnique ainsi qu'une intolérance envers la diversité. Cependant, les acteurs de droite radicale opèrent dans des limites démocratiques, considérant que les acteurs d'extrême droite rejettent ouvertement la démocratie et les droits de l'homme universels, et considèrent la violence contre les « ennemis du peuple » comme légitime.

Les cultures de jeunes racistes ont disparu

L'un des développements les plus frappants en Norvège et dans de nombreux autres pays est que l'extrémisme de droite n'est plus un problème typique des jeunes, mais ces organisations et mouvements sont maintenant presque exclusivement constitués d'adultes. Au cours des années 1990 et au début des années 2000, il y avait des sous-cultures et des groupes de jeunes d'extrême droite assez importants en Norvège et dans d'autres pays occidentaux. Ces mouvements étaient principalement associés à la sous-culture skinhead (en Norvège représentée par des groupes comme les Boot Boys), ainsi que des groupes de white power music et des concerts, et les organisations néonazies qui ont attiré certains jeunes marginalisés et vulnérables (par exemple Vigrid). La plupart des participants ont été recrutés dans ces scènes alors qu'ils étaient adolescents, les groupes eux-mêmes remplissant certains besoins sociaux de base tels que l'amitié, identité, protection, l'excitation et l'appartenance au groupe. Dans le mouvement skinhead en particulier, la violence et la haine contre les opposants, les immigrants, et d'autres groupes marginalisés avaient une valeur en soi. Leur style visuel était facilement reconnaissable dans la rue, qui a souvent conduit à de violents affrontements avec des opposants, comme les militants de gauche et antifascistes.

Il n'y a pratiquement plus de scènes de jeunesse d'extrême droite ou racistes en Norvège aujourd'hui. Il n'y a pas d'arènes sociales attrayantes qui puissent entraîner les jeunes dans des mouvements d'extrême droite ou racistes, et il n'y a pas non plus de scène musicale White Power, comme c'était le cas dans les années 90. La principale organisation néo-nazie, le Mouvement de résistance nordique, compte quelque 30 à 40 militants en Norvège, peut-être 4-500 en Suède, et une centaine en Finlande et au Danemark. Cependant, les membres de cette organisation sont des adultes, généralement entre 20 et 50 ans, et au moins en Norvège, il n'y a pratiquement pas d'adolescents. Apparemment, les règles et le mode de vie très stricts du groupe ne semblent pas plaire à beaucoup de jeunes. L'idéologie nationale-socialiste apparaît dépassée.

Les groupes de vigilance comme les Soldats d'Odin étaient principalement une communauté de quelques jeunes hommes et quelques femmes entre 20 et 40 ans, plutôt qu'un groupe attirant les adolescents. Identité de génération, un mouvement ethno-nationaliste qui a réussi à recruter des étudiants et autres jeunes débrouillards dans certains pays européens, n'a pas encore réussi à s'implanter de manière significative en Norvège. Cependant, c'est probablement le genre de mouvement d'extrême droite qui pourrait avoir un potentiel de recrutement parmi les jeunes norvégiens.

Organisations de droite radicale contre l'immigration et l'islamisation, comme Stop Islamization of Norway/Danemark/Europe, Pegida et la Ligue de défense anglo-norvégienne, le Mouvement populaire contre l'immigration (FMI) et un parti dénommé "Les Démocrates", se composent généralement d'adultes et de personnes âgées, mais il n'y a pratiquement pas de jeunes dans ces organisations.

L'une des principales raisons de cet abandon de l'extrémisme de droite chez les jeunes est que la peur des étrangers – la xénophobie – s'est progressivement réduite parmi les jeunes générations en Norvège. Plusieurs enquêtes sur les attitudes ont montré que la xénophobie est principalement conservée parmi les générations plus âgées. Les jeunes d'aujourd'hui grandissent dans une société multiculturelle, et ils sont habitués aux camarades de classe et aux amis de cultures différentes, origines religieuses et raciales. Ce n'est pas la même chose avec les personnes âgées, qui sont beaucoup plus préoccupés par les visages et les cultures "étrangères".

Ce changement a des conséquences majeures sur la manière de prévenir l'extrémisme de droite, et quelles agences possèdent les ressources et les mesures nécessaires pour le faire. Lorsque le groupe cible de la prévention dans les années 1990 et au début des années 2000 était principalement les adolescents, il existait un important dispositif de prévention dans les communes centré sur les enfants et les jeunes :Le système scolaire, par exemple, a des enseignants chargés de suivre les élèves en difficulté et les élèves qui ont abandonné l'école. Il y avait des infirmières scolaires, animateurs de jeunesse, équipes psychosociales pour les jeunes, services de protection de l'enfance, clubs de jeunesse, clubs sportifs et autres activités de loisirs. Une étroite collaboration s'est également instaurée entre la police préventive, les écoles et les services sociaux pour le suivi des jeunes à risque ou toxicomanes, bandes, la violence ou l'extrémisme. Tous ces services et mesures de prévention – éléments essentiels de l'État-providence scandinave – ne sont plus pertinents lorsque le groupe cible n'est plus les adolescents mais les jeunes adultes ou les personnes âgées de 18 à 80 ans. De nouvelles approches sont nécessaires et d'autres acteurs et agences doivent s'impliquer. Le Service correctionnel (service pénitentiaire), le service de l'emploi et divers services de santé sont des acteurs importants face à ces militants adultes, bien que la police et les services de sécurité joueront un rôle majeur pour empêcher ces militants adultes de commettre des crimes, et les faire suivre par des mesures plus répressives s'ils le font.

De l'activisme de rue à l'activisme sur Internet – et retour à la rue ?

Another significant change during the last decades is that the arenas for extremist activism to a large extent – but not completely – have moved from physical meetings and street activism onto the Internet in the forms of web pages, blogs and various types of social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Télégramme, etc).

This change has several consequences:the threshold for participating in discussions and exchange of opinions has become lower. It is also much easier to find people sharing your particular views on the Internet than in traditional social arenas. In discussion fora at Facebook or other social media you can get your radical views confirmed and reinforced through interaction with likeminded peers, leading to a radicalisation of your own worldview. The threshold is lower for expressing extremist attitudes or making hateful or threatening statements. The increase in hate speech and threats against politicians that has been measured is several studies during the last few years is mainly reflecting an increase in such statements in social media. Such hate speech and threats may become so stressful and frightening that some top politicians have considered giving up their political positions and public engagement activities.

Another reason for the increase in extreme-right activism on the Internet is that the risk to participate in such activities is much lower in on-line activism than in off-line activities. There is little risk for being physically attacked by militant anti-racists. En effet, plus généralement, when extremist activism is mainly taking place in the virtual space there are fewer opportunities for physical and violent clashes with political opponents. The experience from Norway during the 1990s and early 2000s was that such confrontations could have radicalising impact on both sides and cause a spiral of violence. In Norway, this form of violent conflict dynamics has been relatively absent during the last 15 years. Hate crime in the form of violence, harassment and threats does still happen in the physical space but most of this aggression and hatred is now coming out as hate speech and harassment in social media. Because the threshold for making such hateful statements has been lowered, the volume of it has also increased. When my colleague Jacob Aasland Ravndal in his Ph.D. thesis finds that the number of right-wing extremist attacks in Western Europe has been reduced in the period between 1990 and 2015, one of the possible explanations he provides is that a large part of extremist political activism has moved from the physical space to on-line activism.

Cependant, street activism has not ended completely, and some far-right and extreme-right groups have even re-invigorated their street-level activity. Some anti-Islam groups have had a number of street stands to propagate their message, although with limited participation. Dans de nombreux cas, their talks have been drowned out by shouting from counter-demonstrators. There have also been two main attempts to mobilise mass demonstrations against immigration and Islam, but both failed. The English Defence League, which has mobilised thousands in the UK, inspired the Norwegian Defence League, but the turn-out was very low. The same happened with the Norwegian off-shoot of the German Pegida movement, which mobilised tens of thousands in cities like Dresden in Germany. Their Norwegian subsidiary got some attention initially, but it soon petered out.

Cependant, the Nordic Resistance Movement has succeeded in organising some rather large street demonstrations, in particular in Sweden, with up to 500 participants marching with flags, uniforms and shields. In Norway they have only managed to mobilise 70 and 50 participants in two demonstrations, and the majority of the demonstrators were Swedish activists, not Norwegians. Cependant, what makes the demonstrations of the Norwegian Resistance Movement more powerful and scary than their limited numbers should entail is that they act in a very disciplined way, almost in military order, with banners and uniforms. Previous Norwegian neo-Nazis have never been able to act like that, even if the Norwegian branch of the Nordic Resistance movement could not have done this without a lot of support from their Swedish partners.

The Nordic Resistance Movement claims that violence will be necessary to achieve their revolution but they do not consider it strategically useful to make use of it at this stage. Their rhetoric is very violent, bien que, carrying posters with pictures of politicians and others they claim are "traitors of the people" during their demonstrations, and also putting up posters saying that traitors shall be hanged. Cependant, they rarely initiate violent attacks against opponents, although they are ready to attack anyone who provoke them. En Finlande, an activist kicked down a person who said something against the group. He died a few days later. The organisation has now been banned by the court in Finland. In Norway, cependant, the police cannot ban the Nordic Resistance Movement from staging marches and demonstrations as long as they operate within the boundaries of the law and the freedom of expression. Dans un cas, the police banned their demonstration due to the risk of violent clashes with militant counter-demonstrators. This decision was strongly criticised by legal experts on human rights. Handling demonstrations by national socialists – declared enemies of democracy and human rights – is a dilemma the police will continue to face for the foreseeable future.

One of the consequences of activism transferring from the street to the web and social media is that most of the activism is no longer linked to a geographical location where there is an apparatus for prevention. That means that there is not necessarily any particular agency who feels responsible to intervene against hate speech or individuals who cross the line. Précédemment, the local police knew the individuals who had extremist inclinations. In the present situation, such individuals and incidents might be detected by or reported to central units in the police or security service – or not. These units may – or may not – send the cases to the local police and ask them to intervene. In Norway, the National Criminal Investigation Service has for some years had a so-called Net Patrol, mais jusqu'à maintenant, they have not had the capacity to actively monitor the web and social media. It has mainly functioned as an Internet portal – a virtual police station – where people can report incidents. Beginning in January 2019, the National Criminal Investigation Service has set up a new centre for digital policing, tasked with doing more active patrolling on the net. The police do prosecute a number of cases of hate speech and threats made through social media, and there have been several convictions during the last few years. Many cases are in the grey area of legality, bien que. Cependant, the police has developed another measure that has proven to be quite effective:giving warnings and using preventive dialogue to make people change their behaviour, as well as using dialogue to assess whether there is a risk that the offender might actually do something more than making verbal threats.

Globalisation and transnational diffusion

Globalisation is not a new phenomenon when it comes to political extremism in general and right-wing extremism in particular. Militant ideologies and modes of action have spread from country to country and inspired new groups and generations, as evidenced by Italian fascism, German National Socialism, American racism and fascist skinhead culture from England. Cependant, previously, this travelling of extremist ideas, social movements and action forms happened rather slowly. It took almost a decade before the racist skinhead style took foothold among groups of youths in Norway, and more than a decade before it faded away.

During the last 10-15 years the diffusion of radical and extremist movements has accelerated amazingly. Concepts, names and action forms like PEGIDA, the English/Norwegian Defence League and the Soldiers of Odin took merely days or weeks from they emerged in Germany or Finland until an off-shoot was planted in Norway. Within a few months in 2016, Soldiers of Odin spread to more than 20 countries. Cependant, these off-shoots had a rapid growth before they dried out and disappeared. Apparemment, they did not find a fertile ground and failed to set down roots.

The news media played a major role in the launching of these new, imported groups. When the Norwegian Defence League, Pegida and the Soldiers of Odin staged their first events, there were often more journalists than activists or demonstrators present, giving the upstarts a lot of publicity to start with.

The contrast to these rapid-growing but failed off-shoots was the Norwegian Resistance Movement, which was an off-shoot of the original Swedish Resistance Movement. Both the Swedish, Finnish and Norwegian branches have spent years to build a disciplined, hierarchical organisation with a solid stem of activists, who, though small in number, are very dedicated.

Islam as the new main enemy

The organised opposition to immigration that emerged during the late 1980s with the establishment of the People's Movement against Immigration and similar organisations were, to begin with, a rather marginal and stigmatized movement. The movement was characterized by an extremist, rude rhetoric which justified violence against their opponents, described as "national traitors". During the last 15 years the general opposition against immigration has moved towards a more specific fight against Islam and immigration by Muslims. This skepticism against Islam is no longer mainly associated with marginal groupings but has now made inroads into the political mainstream. In the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks in the USA in 2001 and a series of lethal terrorist attacks in Europe during the following years, militant Islamism and jihadi terrorism now appears as a real threat to ordinary people in Norway as well as to the rest of Europe. De plus, many feel that conservative Islamist customs and dress codes have spread in ways that is challenging liberal Norwegian and European values and norms.

Another significant development is that some of the leading anti-Islam activists have a political background which is not from the far right but rather from the radical or liberal left, from anti-religious secularism and from the feminist movement. In contrast to the traditional anti-immigration movement, which often appeared as reactionary male chauvinists, many opponents of Islam today present themselves as defenders of women's liberation, gender equality and gay rights. For some of the anti-Islam activists, these are genuine liberal values, whereas others who voice these arguments appear more as opportunists in this regard. Cependant, within the anti-Islam movements, old-fashioned extreme-right attitudes live side-by-side with liberal and secular values.

The boundaries for what is acceptable to express publicly about Muslims and Islam has moved considerably during the previous 10-15 years. Much of what is said in the public, would not have been acceptable if one said "Jew" rather than "Muslim". Leading Norwegian politicians have made statements about a "sneaky islamisation of Norway" and similar statements that contributes to a normalization of claims that their political opponents have deliberately facilitated an Islamic "invasion" of Europe. A likely consequence of pointing out Islam as the new main enemy is that an increasing share of extreme-right violence and hate crime is now directed specifically against Muslims. En particulier, women wearing hijab or niqab have become victims of hateful harassment and violence. It is laudable that the Norwegian government has recently launched an action plan against anti-Semitism. Cependant, there is an even greater need for a preventive strategy against Islamophobia.