Abstract
This chapter presents an approach to conducting research on polarised conflict we call engaged dialogue, focused on critical self-reflexivity and the researcher’s position in relation to those studied. Developing insights from our own research experiences of dialogical interactions with radical nationalist actors and others in conflicts surrounding nationalism and multiculturalism in a Finnish context, we argue for a sustained, self-reflective dialogical engagement on the part of researchers with the people studied. Without a dialogical approach, research risks reifying popular, mediatised representations and self-presentations of parties in conflict, thus reproducing or intensifying the deadlocks of polarised conflict, rather than unlocking them.
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Notes
- 1.
The material was gathered during the years 2017–2021 from various research projects on (1) conflict, consensus and collective identifications, (2) theories of political violence, (3) social exclusion, polarisation and security in the Nordic welfare states. The material consists of ethnography and autoethnography including interviews with radical nationalist actors and nationalist populist politicians. The research data has been gathered in accordance with the Guidelines of The Advisory Board on Research Integrity (TENK) in Finland (http://www.tenk.fi/en). Informed consent has been secured and the anonymity of participants in the research has been protected in all phases of the research. All names have been changed, except when we refer to ourselves. Respondents have also had the opportunity to read and comment on quotes in the manuscript of this chapter prior to publication. All data is stored according to data protection guidelines. We use the term ‘radical nationalist actors’ to designate respondents, although some of them might not self-identify that way. We position the respondents within the outer layer of right-wing politics in relation to other nationalist politicians and actors such as the moderate right-wing Finnish National Coalition Party. There is significant terminological variation in the research literature both in which terms are used—extreme right, radical right, far right, populist radical right, etc.,—and how they are defined (for an overview, see Toscano, 2019).
- 2.
In the Finnish context the derogatory term ‘suvakki’, derived from ‘suvaitsevainen’ (tolerant) and ‘vajakki’ (retard), has been used to refer to proponents of ‘multiculturalism’; this resulted in the invention of ‘rajakki’ (from ‘raja’, border) as a derogatory term for proponents of restrictive immigration politics. The use of these terms trended in particular following the societal discussion related to the increased number of asylum seekers in Finland 2015–2016.
- 3.
To protect the anonymity of those involved, we refrain from referencing the book.
- 4.
In addition to the material described in footnote 1 regarding empirical data from the research projects, we use examples of various hateful messages received on Facebook messenger and exchanges that occurred in responding to them.
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Salskov, S.A., Backström, J., Creutz, K. (2022). From Angry Monologues to Engaged Dialogue? On Self-Reflexivity, Critical Discursive Psychology and Studying Polarised Conflict. In: Pettersson, K., Nortio, E. (eds) The Far-Right Discourse of Multiculturalism in Intergroup Interactions. Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89066-7_7
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