The Fifth Annual Conference of the International Consortium for Research on Antisemitism and Racism (ICRAR) will be held at Yale University Sept. 10-11. It is co-sponsored by the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism and the Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration at Yale University.

Recent political events in the United States have turned the spotlight on what for many years has been a shadowy phenomenon: the existence of openly racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, and misogynistic groups on the far-right wing of the American political spectrum. These groups, including those who call themselves the “alt-right,” have gained momentum in recent years, as well as increased visibility.

In fact, far-right groups have been gaining prominence around the world over the past decade. The Brexit vote in the United Kingdom; the popularity of such parties as the National Front in France, the Alternative for Germany, and the Golden Dawn in Greece; and the coming to power of far-right parties in Eastern Europe and elsewhere have attracted the world’s attention.

The goal of this conference is to map these various iterations of the current far-right, racist, and/or antisemitic ethos, to explore their ideologies and ideas, to consider the features they share in common, as well as their divergences and tensions. Some of the questions we hope to raise include: What are the origins of these various movements? Did they emerge from existing right-wing parties or do they constitute a new phenomenon? What are their links to previous racist movements (the KKK, the Nazi party, conservative and authoritarian religious and nationalist groups, etc.)? What kinds of racism and/or antisemitism do they advocate? Which groups of people do they target and why? What effect has the refugee crisis had on their development? How central is racism/antisemitism to their ideology? What purposes are served by their racism/antisemitism?

Papers that attempt to “map” the relations among different racist parties and across national boundaries are encouraged.

Submit an abstract of your paper (maximum 300 words) along with a one-paragraph career summary by March 31 to: inessa.laskova@yale.edu.