Fringe politics in Southeast Europe

Post-authoritarian transition in Southeast Europe (SEE) has proved particularly challenging for the consolidation of formal democratic politics and to the liberal transformation of the successor states, especially the post-conflict territories in Former Yugoslavia. The territories in the region span the spectrum of EU integration, from long-standing post-authoritarian Member States (Greece) and more recent post-socialist expansion of the EU (Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Romania), to candidates and potential candidates in the Western Balkans (Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and Serbia).

Our network brings together several strands of politics 'at the margins' in SEE that have been largely overlooked by researchers examining the region, which include: war veterans' groups in ex-Yugoslavia; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) activism; anti-austerity and anti-corruption protests; protests for the right to public spaces; football fan groups (so-called 'hooliganism'); far right 'extremism'; Islamism; and fringe right- and left-wing political parties.