Radical Right Research Resources

Several organizations and institutions produce valuable research and analysis of far right extremists movements, and numerous reports and databases.

Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) — ACLED “collects information on the dates, actors, locations, fatalities, and types of all reported political violence and protest events around the world.” ACLED publishes regular analysis of data related to protests and political violence.
Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies (CWRS) — Based at the University of California, Berkeley, the center is a “research unit dedicated to the study of right-wing movements in the 20th and 21st centuries.” The center hosts an annual conference, and maintains a vast archive of documents related to the religious and political right.
Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) — CCDH “is an international not-for-profit NGO that seeks to disrupt the architecture of online hate and misinformation.”
Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) — CMD is a watchdog and advocacy organization that publishes investigative reporting, and the organization’s projects include SourceWatch, a searchable wiki that provides research profiles on “corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups, people who “front” corporate campaigns, and PR operations.”
Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) — Norway-based “cross-disciplinary center for the study of right-wing extremism, hate crime and political violence.” C-REX has published several research resources including a compendium on the far right and datasets on research topics such as right-wing terrorism and violence, comparative far-right protest, and former extremists.
Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC) Based at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, CTEC seeks to “advance education, research, and intelligence analysis across the critical domains of domestic extremism, transnational emerging threats, and trust and safety tech policy, to drive change in pursuit of a more just world.” CTEC publishes research on far right extremism.
Counter Extremism Project (CEP) — CEP provides “communication tools to inform the public, media, academia, business leaders, and policymakers about the dangers posed by extremist ideologies and movements as well as their recruitment and operational tactics,” and maintains a database of White Supremacists groups in the United States and Europe.
Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) — The Atlantic Council’s DFRLab “operationalized the study of disinformation by exposing falsehoods and fake news, documenting human rights abuses, and building digital resilience worldwide.”
Extremism and Gaming Research Network (EGRN) — EGRN brings together “researchers, practitioners, and policymakers together with the private sector to develop an understanding of potential threats, as well as solutions for the exploitation of gaming by terrorists and violent extremists,” and the organization has published numerous reports and research papers.
Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET) — An academic research organization that seeks to provide “better understanding, and counteracting, terrorist use of technology.” The organization provides a global perspective on various types of extremists networks, and resources include various type of reports and a monthly digest of relevant research and analysis.
Global Philanthropy Project (GPP) — GPP is a “collaboration of funders and philanthropic advisors working to expand global philanthropic support to advance the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people in the Global South and East,” and the organization’s resources include a collection of research and analysis of the global anti-gender movement.
Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) — GPAHE was to founded “address the gap in efforts to stop transnational hate and far-right extremism movements, particularly U.S.-based activity that is exported to other countries and across borders,” and resources include Country Extremist Reports and the Global Extremist Symbols Database.
Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (IREHR) — IREHR seeks to “continue examining racist, anti-Semitic, and far right social movements, analyzing their intersection with civil society and social policy, and to educate the public and assist in the protection and extension of human rights through organization and informed mobilization.”
Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) — ISD provides research and analysis on “extremism in all its forms,” and “identify and track online manipulation, disinformation, hate and extremism in real time.” ISD regularly publishes analyses and monitors “trends in far-right radicalization,” and has published several explainers on several types of extremist ideologies and groups.
Media Matters for America (MMFA) — MMFA publishes research and analysis and “dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media,” and the organization’s resources include research and studies on right-wing media and archives organized by media outlets, shows and publications, personalities and groups, and narratives.
People For the American Way (PFAW)— Right Wing Watch is PFAW’s project for “monitoring and exposing the activities and rhetoric of right-wing activists and organizations,” and publishes daily articles on the Radical Right, and the organization’s resources include reports on various right-wing movements, and a database of right-wing organizations and individuals.
Political Research Associates (PRA) — PRA publishes “investigative research and analysis on the U.S. Right to support social justice advocates and defend human rights.” PRA’s research includes “Profiles on the Right,” which includes background research on various right-wing groups and individuals, and various other reports and research.
Program on Extremism — The Program on Extremism at George Washington University “provides analysis on issues related to violent and non-violent extremism.” The program’s resources include various types of research reports, panel discussions and webinars, and is currently tracking all of the court cases related to the January 6th Capitol Hill Siege.
Public Accountability Initiative (PAI) — LittleSis project is an opensource database and network mapping tool that seeks to provide “transparency to influential social networks by tracking the key relationships of politicians, business leaders, lobbyists, financiers, and their affiliated institutions.”
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) — SPLC’s research includes “Extremist Files,” a database of profiles of right-wing extremists and extremist organizations, the “Intelligence Report,” a biannual magazine that publishes investigative reporting of extremists activities, and the “Hate Map, an interactive map of the more than 800 extremists groups.
Western States Center — The Oregon-based organization works to “lifted up the voices of marginalized communities while providing accessible tools and support for grassroots organizing, civic engagement, and collective action,” and publishes toolkits for countering far right extremists.