An initial focus of the project is provided by analyzing far-right-(extremist) (media-) narratives and iconographies along the symbolic and historically charged communicative figure of "resistance". The analysis focuses on communicative strategies directed both internally and externally for a) ideological identity work, b) mobilization and c) the dissemination and normalization of (dis-)information. The second focal point is Bavaria, in particular Munich as the historical nucleus of National Socialism. It examines how actors from the far-right populist and far-right spectrum in Germary past and present - articulate themselves and to what extent references to Munich, Bavaria or history play a role in spreading their interpretations of the world or making them appear legitimate. Thirdly, mainstreaming, i.e. the normalization and implementation of far-right extremist interpretations of social reality in the broader social discourse (including the associated figures of speech, images and argumentative patterns) is examined as a key goal of far-right extremnist propaganda.

 

Principal Investigators: Susanne Kinnebrock & Christian Schwarzenegger
Project Manager: Hanna-Sophie Ruess
Project Duration: 2024–2027

 

Empirically, the project conducts historical-hermeneutic document and media analyses for the 1920s, and qualitative content analyses of social media communication – particularly on Telegram – and referenced media for the 2020s. The comparison between the two time periods is carried out using discourse analysis. This diachronic comparative perspective enables the identification of developments, changes, and recurring elements in the communication of far-right extremist actors revolving around the cipher of “resistance.”

 

Dynamics and consequences of the instrumentalization of the concept of "resistance":

 

 

Comparison of discourses across different public arenas (Klaus, 2017):

• journalism (press)
• alternative media (movement press, right-wing online platforms)
• encounters (flyers, posters, social networks)

 

Methods applied:

• qualitative content analysis (Fürst et al., 2016)
• historical-hermeneutic analysis (Rüsen / Jäger, 1990)
• communication studies–based discourse analysis (Pentzold, 2019)

 

Empirical focus via the concept of “resistance”:
Far-right extremist communication strategies in general, and references to resistance in particular, do not typically present themselves to the public as overtly hostile extremist voices. Instead, far-right extremist positions are often staged as expressions of legitimate resistance (Betz, 2018). These patterns and strategies – rooted in populist communication, extremist agitation, and traditional propaganda – are characteristically structured as antagonistic communication (Engesser et al., 2017): a distinction is drawn between an “us” group (inclusion) and a “them” group (exclusion) (Gerbaudo, 2018). Within this communication, the “us” group is portrayed as being under threat, while the “others” are alleged to be the cause of this disadvantage or even the beneficiaries of it (Wodak, 2017).

 

The subproject focuses on the analysis of constructed threat scenarios (Why resistance?), constructed enemy images and target groups, along with their attributed characteristics (Against what or whom is resistance directed?), constructed self-conceptions in the tradition of resistance and marginalization (Whose resistance?) and the choice and justification of the means employed (Through which means?).

 

The project is part of the Bavarian research network ForGeRex Research Network for Empirical Insights into the Current State Remembrance Practices and Counter-Strategies for Far-Right Extremism in Bavaria. Scientists from eleven Bavarian universities, higher education institutions and non-university research institutions are working together in this network to shed light on far-right extremism in Bavaria in all its facets. The network is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts. In addition to' the University Augsburg the Ludwig Maximilians University, the Universities of Regensburg and Passau, the Academy of Fine Arts in of Munich, the Munich School of Public Policy, the Munich Institute of Contemporary History, the Munich University of Applied Sciences and the Nuremberg Institute of Technology are participating in the network under the coordination of the OTH Regensburg. The JFF (Institute for Media Education in Research and Practice) in Munich is an associate member.

Publications:

2026

Rueß, H. (Accepted) Mikrogeschichtliche analoge und digitale Spuren von „Frau und Nation“: Eine rechte Frauenzeitschrift als doppelte Gegenöffentlichkeit in der Weimarer Republik. In E. Asboth und R. Scholz (Ed.): Historisch Forschen zwischen Archiv und Algorithmus. Springer Nature.

 

2025

Rueß, H. (2025). Influencer:innen, KI-Bilder und Diskurskoalitionen: Neue Forschungsperspektiven auf rechte Geschlechterdiskurse. 15th of July 2025. Available online at: https://scilogs.spektrum.de/rechtsextremismus/influencerinnen-ki-bilder-und-diskurskoalitionen-neue-forschungsperspektiven-auf-rechte-geschlechterdiskurse

 

Presentations:

2026

Rueß, H., Kinnebrock, S., Johann, M., & Schwarzenegger, C. (2026). Resistance as a narrative: Far-right alternative media storytelling and the co-constructed myth of resistance. Accepted presentation at the 11^th European Communication Conference (ECREA) vom 08.-11. September in Brünn, Tschechien. from the 08.-11. of September in Brno, Czech Republic.

 

Rueß, H., Kinnebrock, S., Johann, M., Schwarzenegger, C., & Heft, A. (2026). Media practices of contradicting by far-right actors. Presentation at the 76th anual ICA conference from 4th until 8th of June in Cape Town, South Africa. 

 

2025

Rueß, H. (2025). 'Fighting for real women's rights' - The exclusionary and 'defensive' counterpublic of female far-right activists. Presentation at the 75th anual ICA conference from 12th until 16th of June in Denver, USA. 

 

2024

Rueß, H., Kinnebrock, S., & Schwarzenegger, C. (2024). Towards an empty signifier? Unraveling the dynamics and manipulations of the ‘resistance’ narrative across the political spectrum. Presentation on the 10^th European Communication Conference (ECREA) from the 24.-27. of September in Ljublijana, Slowenia.

 

Rueß, H., Kinnebrock, S., & Schwarzenegger, C. (2024). Women between power and powerlessness. Gender and power performances as an analytical frame to research defensive publics such as the far-right. Presentation at the ICA 2024 postconference "P³: Power, Propaganda, Polarisation" from the 26th until 27th of june in Brisbane, Australia. 

 

2023

Rueß, H., Schwarzenegger, C., & Kinnebrock, S. (2023). #reinweiblich - The Far-Right’s Binary and Trans-exclusive Construction of Femininity through Hashtags. Presentation at the joint annual conference "(Non-)binarity in Binary Structures" of the DGPuK divisions "Digital Communication" and "Media, Public Spheres, and Gender" from the 8th until the 10th of November in Vienna, Austria.

 

Rueß, H., Schwarzenegger, C., & Kinnebrock, S. (2023). A kaleidoscope of lies – Partisan realities and adaptable conspiracy myths in the 1920s German Nationalist Press. Presentation at the annual IAMCR Conference from the 09th until the 13th of July 2023 in Lyon/France.

 

Rueß, H., Wagner, A., Johann, M. & Schwarzenegger, C. (2023). Deformed, Devalued and Distorted: Transfigurations of Memory in Far-Right Commemorative Populism. Presentation at the Workshop “Far-right Memory in Digital Age” at the University of Leipzig from the 8th until the 10th of June in Leipzig. 

 

Rueß, H., & Kinnebrock, S. (2023). Zwischen Frauenbewegung und Nationalismus: Die Zeitschrift „Frau und Nation“ (1924-1925) als Alternativmedium und doppelte Gegenöffentlichkeit. Presentation on the annual DGPuK Section Conference for Communication History "Von Emanzipation zu Desinformation? Gegenöffentlichkeiten und ihre Bewertung im Wandel" on the 31st of March in 2023 in Leipzig.

 

2022

Schwarzenegger, C., Rueß, H., & Kinnebrock, S. (2022). Propaganda and Phantasmagorias of “Resistance” in Right-Wing Counter-Publics. A Diachronic Comparison of the 1920s and 2020s. Presentation on the ECREA-precon of the Communication History Division, 07th October 2022 (online).