Peter H. Merkl – författare

The cold war may be over, but there is no shortage of enemies in a world beset by resurgent nationalism, ethnic conflict, and economic rivalry. Right-wing extremists from David Duke to Jean-Marie Le Pen know how to exploit the pressure points of race, religion, and culture in a bid to keep the national and international conflict industry cooking. Encounters with the Contemporary Radical Right introduces us to the personalities as well as the systems of rightist repression. It shows, in clearly written and carefully documented essays, how radical right groups have made electoral headway in France, Germany, and Israel while increasingly making headlines in the United States, Great Britain, and other points East and West. The phenomenon is by no means limited to ail skinheads and jackboots; many official governments shelter radical rightism or even sponsor it outright. Reflecting a broad geographical distribution that includes Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the essays in this book lend themselves to comparative analysis on three important dimensions: the historical and intellectual backgrounds of various rightist groups, the way each group fits within the context of social movements theory, and the assessment of relative electoral participation and success. The book goes on to outline both the patterns and peculiarities of radical right action in the settings represented and concludes that it is no accident that the radical right is on the rise internationally, admonishing us of the movement''s power without overstating its potential.

The cold war may be over, but there is no shortage of enemies in a world beset by resurgent nationalism, ethnic conflict, and economic rivalry. Right-wing extremists from David Duke to Jean-Marie Le Pen know how to exploit the pressure points of race, religion, and culture in a bid to keep the national and international conflict industry cooking. Encounters with the Contemporary Radical Right introduces us to the personalities as well as the systems of rightist repression. It shows, in clearly written and carefully documented essays, how radical right groups have made electoral headway in France, Germany, and Israel while increasingly making headlines in the United States, Great Britain, and other points East and West. The phenomenon is by no means limited to ail skinheads and jackboots; many official governments shelter radical rightism or even sponsor it outright. Reflecting a broad geographical distribution that includes Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the essays in this book lend themselves to comparative analysis on three important dimensions: the historical and intellectual backgrounds of various rightist groups, the way each group fits within the context of social movements theory, and the assessment of relative electoral participation and success. The book goes on to outline both the patterns and peculiarities of radical right action in the settings represented and concludes that it is no accident that the radical right is on the rise internationally, admonishing us of the movement''s power without overstating its potential.

At the center of this investigation is the great modernization effort of a West German state, Bavaria, in the 1970s and 1980s, by means of a reform of the smaller units of local government. The reforms were meant to abolish all autonomous local governments serving populations of fewer than 3,000, thereby reducing the number of local governments in Bavaria from more than 7,000 to less than 2,000. Based on interviews, surveys, and statistical research, this study chronicles fifteen communities and their challenges, developments, and social changes from post-1945 up to the present. While this book explores the decline of the iconic village community, it also reveals the survival of medieval towns in a contemporary world, and despite the modern desire for comprehensive and well-integrated services, there remains a seemingly perennial appeal of small town and village life.