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23 SES 06 C: Education projects of far-right parties
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23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper School Leadership, Policy Enactment and a Perceived Threat from the Far-right in English Areas of Deprivation: a Place-based Multiple Case Study UCL, United Kingdom Presenting Author:Introduction When a centre-left Labour government was elected in July 2024, the right-wing populist Reform Party won five seats. Reform has increased their position to eight seats since the election and been particularly successful in areas of deprivation. Ipsos opinion polls suggest that 33% of the electorate would vote for Reform, providing a majority, if a general election was held. Reform claims a right-wing position, yet their position on immigration, racist allegations and opposition to multiculturalism, for example, shows signs of alignment with the far-right. This research is a qualitative place-based study and seeks to understand school leaders’ perceptions and aspirations in policy work related to community since the general election was held in July 2024. The project seeks to understand how a specific political representation in communities with significant deprivation impacts decision-making in the daily lives of leaders. The implications will be of relevance to educational professionals, policy makers and those working within areas of deprivation. The research will also be relevant to those in international contexts experiencing an increased far-right political agenda.
Purpose The primary purpose of this project is to understand how school leaders identify current priorities, opportunities, challenges, tensions and concerns underpinning their decision-making, particularly in terms of policy work related community since the 2024 general election.
Aims To understand how school leaders perceive that their decision-making, particularly that which is related to policy work and community, has shifted since the general election. To analyse the threat from the far-right in English areas of deprivation represented by Reform Members of Parliament and understand the initial impact this has on the daily lives of educational leaders and their communities.
Research questions
Sub-questions
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used Research design This multiple case study design is based on four Reform-led constituencies. Each place-based setting provides distinct challenges for educational leaders regardless of Member of Parliament representation. Document and political text analysis will form a point of triangulation. Within-case and cross-case analyses will be produced. Participants An inclusive view of leadership is taken for this study encompassing senior and middle leaders alongside teachers to understand perspectives on policy work within their specific context. Therefore, interviews will be conducted with at least one person from the senior leadership team within the research site, one person from the middle leadership team and one from a group of teachers. This will be replicated across each of the four distinct cases. Multi-stage sampling 1. Cases - The four place-based case study sites will be strategically selected according to Member of Parliament representation and are located in areas of deprivation (The English Indices of Deprivation 2025 ). 2. Participants within cases - Senior and middle leaders and teachers within secondary settings will form the strategic sample for this study. Within each of the four case study contexts, it is intended to interview approximately 3-6 participants in each of the research sites. Recruitment Contact will be made with the principal/headteacher for each research site. They will be asked to identify relevant participants from within their organisation. Snowball sampling will be drawn upon, if needed, by following up where a participant suggests others who might be relevant to the study. Data collection There will be a series of semi-structured interviews with senior and middle leaders and teachers from each of the contributing secondary schools forming the case. Interviews will be approximately 60 minutes undertaken face-to-face or online. Semi-structured interviews will provide the most appropriate opportunity to have a one-to-one discussion to elicit perceptions about policy work, priorities and context. Textual analysis in the form of available policy documents, literature, web-based materials, inspection reports etc. will be consulted as a form of triangulation. Texts produced by the political representatives are analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis. This offers some contextual insight into the case study settings. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings From this study it is possible to understand how political representation is able to impact on school leaders and 'forced' directions in policy enactment. The extent to which leaders are able to articulate ways in which this impacts on their communities within areas of deprivation is particularly important. The Reform party are gaining traction in England and therefore how this shapes policy work and in turn, how this is manifest in communities is significant. References Ball SJ, Maguire M, Braun A (2012) How Schools do Policy: Policy Enactments in Secondary Schools. Abingdon: Routledge. Brown, W. (2006) Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the age of identity and empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press Colman, A. (2021) School leadership, school inspection and the micropolitics of compliance and resistance: Examining the hyper-enactment of policy in an area of deprivation. Educational management, administration & leadership, 2021-03, Vol.49 (2), p.268-283 Foucault M (1981) The political technology of individuals. In: Martin LH, Gutman H, Hutton PH (eds) Technologies of the Self: A Seminar With Michel Foucault (1988). London: Tavistock, 145–162. Foucault M (1984) The ethic of care for the self as a practice of freedom. In: Bernauer J, Rasmussen D (eds) The Final Foucault Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1–20. The English Indices of Deprivation 2025 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper Schools under fire from Far-right parties: A Comparative Study of Germany and Argentina 1: University of Augsburg, Germany; 2: University of Buenos Aires/Argentina Presenting Author:Topic and Research Question: Far-right parties are gaining influence in many democracies – including in the field of education. In their education policy positions, they articulate fundamental ideological beliefs about who should control, finance, and shape education. Central lines of conflict emerge around questions of state responsibility, parental choice, and the normative orientation of public education. This paper offers a comparative analysis of the ideological concepts that far-right parties develop in relation to school policy, examining how these ideas differ or converge between Germany (AfD) (Nikolai et al. 2024) and Argentina (La Libertad Avanza, LLA) (Wanschelbaum et al. 2024). The guiding research question is: What ideational concepts of education and school policy are articulated by far-right parties in Germany and Argentina, and how do these concepts resemble or differ from one another? The paper aims to analyse the education policy of far-right parties systematically and comparatively. It does not focus solely on concrete policy demands, but also on structural and normative visions of school and state. The paper explores whether and how far-right actors promote paradigmatic shifts in education governance – such as towards market logics, national-cultural homogeneity, or authoritarian steering. Conceptual and Theoretical Framework: The analysis is based on Peter Hall’s (1993) ideational framework, which distinguishes political ideas across three levels: first-order ideas: concrete instruments (e.g. school voucher programmes, school choice regulations), second-order ideas: institutional steering logics (e.g. privatisation, oversight structures) and third-order ideas: ideological assumptions (e.g. the role of the state, educational goals).This typology is combined with four analytical dimensions derived from research on far-right parties and education policy: (1) Conceptions of state responsibility in education, (2) Marketisation of schooling, (3) Parental authority and educational choice and (4) Ideological framing of state-run schools (Espeland Berg et al. 2023, Giudici et al. 2025). This analytical matrix enables a multidimensional comparison of ideational education policy positions (see also Nikolai et al. 2025, Saur et al. Forthcoming). Relevance: The contribution offers an innovative perspective in comparative education research by analysing far-right ideologies not merely as discursive phenomena but as coherent education policy programmes. By combining an ideational approach with systematic cross-country comparison, the paper critically examines key trends such as denationalization, re-nationalisation, and anti-pluralism in education policy, and assesses their implications from a democratic theory perspective. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The empirical analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis following the approach of Kuckartz and Rädiker (2024) and aims at a theory-driven examination of political documents produced by far-right parties in Germany and Argentina. The analysis focuses on key texts from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Argentine governing party La Libertad Avanza (LLA), including electoral programmes at both state and national levels, central political position papers, as well as parliamentary speeches and official statements related to school policy. These documents are systematically subjected to a qualitative, structuring content analysis. The coding process is deductively guided by a theoretically developed system of categories based on Peter Hall’s (1993) typology of three levels of policy ideas: first-order ideas (concrete policy instruments), second-order ideas (institutional mechanisms of governance), and third-order ideas (underlying ideological orientations). The previously developed analytical matrix provides a framework for evaluating the parties’ positions consistently along these three dimensions. The case comparison adopts a most different systems design, as Germany and Argentina differ substantially in their institutional frameworks: in the governance structures of their education systems (cooperative educational federalism vs. centralised state responsibility) and in the party development and organisational form of the respective far-right actors (established opposition party vs. newly formed governing party). This systemic heterogeneity enables a particularly robust analysis, allowing for the investigation of whether similar ideological patterns emerge despite significant structural divergence. In doing so, the study explores whether far-right education agendas reflect cross-system ideological logics and whether a transnational ideational architecture of far-right school policy can be identified. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The comparative analysis of far-right education concepts in Germany and Argentina reveals that both parties (AfD, LLA) engage in a profound ideological reframing of the state’s role in education. While the AfD has so far operated primarily at the discursive and programmatic level, the Milei government in Argentina is implementing far-reaching policy measures. Nevertheless, structural commonalities can be identified at the ideational level. It is expected that both parties articulate a ideological conception of the state at the level of third-order ideas, in which education is no longer understood as a collective right, but rather as a selective provision for a culturally defined community. Public education tends to be delegitimised, social inequality depoliticised, and pluralism construed as a threat. At the level of second-order ideas, both actors promote a reorganisation of education governance: either through the weakening of state coordination and the strengthening of private and religious providers (Argentina), or through ideological control over curricular content (Germany). These ideational frameworks materialise at the level of first-order ideas in concrete measures such as the reduction and defunding of public programmes (Argentina), or the banning of ideologically disfavoured topics in schools (Germany). Overall, the paper argues that far-right education policy cannot merely be interpreted as a reaction to perceived crises in education policy, but rather as part of a broader ideological project. This project aims at authoritarian governance, cultural homogenisation, and the market-oriented restructuring of public education. These findings offer an important contribution to comparative research on right-wing populism and democratic education and provide a more precise understanding of the ideological depth and normative implications of right-wing populist education agendas. We hope that this work will make a novel contribution to the field of comparative education policy by comparing a European country with a Latin American one. References Espeland Berg, A., Jungblut, J. & Jupskås, A. R. (2023). We don’t need no education? Education policies of Western European populist radical right parties. West European Politics 46 (7), 1312–1342. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2177010 Giudici, A., Gruber, O., Schnell, P. & Pultar, A. (2025). Far-right parties and the politics of education in Europe. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 33 (1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2024.2352518 Hall, P. A. (1993). Policy Paradigms, Social Learning, and the State: The Case of Economic Policymaking in Britain. Comparative Politics 25 (3), 275-296. Kuckartz, U. & Rädiker, S. (2024). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Waxmann. Nikolai, R., Gawert, M. & Saur, L. (2024). The Alternative for Germany and its school policy positions. on_education 7 (20). https://doi.org/10.17899/on_ed.2024.20.5 Nikolai, R., Gawert, M. & Saur, L. (2025). Schule im Kulturkampf: Die AfD und ihre schulpolitischen Positionen zu Unterrichtsinhalten. Die Deutsche Schule 117 (1+2), 61-72. https://doi.org/10.31244/dds.2025.02.06 Saur, L., Gawert, M. & Nikolai, R. (Forthcoming). Die AfD und eine `Erziehung nach Ausschwitz`. Ein schulpolitischer Tabubruch im Kontext von Geschichte und Erinnerung. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 72 (1), 103-112. Wanschelbaum, C., Giniger, N. & Viñuela Flores, G. (2024). Education and the far right. on_education 7 (20). https://doi.org/10.17899/on_ed.2024.20.1 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper The Radicalization of Far-right Education Policy in Germany and Austria 1: University Augsburg, Germany; 2: University of Vienna, Austria; 3: Österreichisches Institut für Berufsbildungsforschung, Austria Presenting Author:The proposed paper will use qualitative content analysis of election manifestos to compare the German party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and the Austrian party Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) in terms of their thematic orientation and radicalization in the area of education policy over several election periods. Both parties are classified as part of the fourth ’wave’ of new radical far-right parties, which are increasingly considered part of the political mainstream (Mudde 2021, p. 16). Relevance. Education policy is a particularly revealing field of study, since, in contrast to the ’classic’ core issues of radical far-right parties (migration, internal security national identity) the education policy agenda of these parties has long been a non-central area of mobilization. This opens up specific opportunities for strategic positioning, discursive reinterpretations and ideological charges (Hepp & Immerfall 2025; Nikolai & Luthardt 2025). While established parties can pay greater attention to institutional compatibility and coalition options, new parties, as challengers, are more inclined to take a more radical stance on education policy in their manifestos and use this as a vehicle for broader socio-political radicalization processes (De Vries & Hobolt 2020). Case selection. The German party AfD and the Austrian party FPÖ were selected as the subjects of the study because they make it possible to highlight differences between new and established radical far-right parties under conditions that are as similar as possible. The parties are similar in terms of ideological orientation (Mudde 2021) and in their structural and social context (Western European parliamentary democracies), which minimizes differences in political systems (‘most similar systems’ design (Pickel 2015, p. 10f.)). However, they differ in terms of their position in party competition: while the FPÖ, as a normalized party, has already been in government (Belafi 2017), the AfD, as a ‘younger’ party, has so far been active as an opposition parliamentary group, and cooperation has been ruled out by other parties (as of 01/2026) (Heinze 2024, p. 216f.). The theoretical perspective of radicalization is particularly helpful for comparing the parties, as it allows us to focus on the processual nature and concrete forms of extreme far-right positions. The paper follows a definition of radicalization that does not focus on the advocacy or use of violence. Instead, radicalization is understood as a discursive and programmatic normalization process that advocates authoritarian, ethno-nationalist, or anti-pluralist patterns of interpretation and reveals an increasing departure from democratic and pluralistic fundamental values as well as a devaluation of democratic institutions and minority rights (Abay Gaspar et al. 2018). Concrete points of reference for the analysis of radicalization processes are provided by the work of Zick et al. (2025), who conceptualize far-right extremist ideology as a bundle of interconnected content dimensions (see section on method). Empirical added value. In terms of the selection of cases and the perspectives chosen (radicalization and education policy), the empirical added value of the analysis lies in particular in highlighting the content-related and ideological breaks and continuities in the field of education policy in an international comparison. Based on the theoretical framework and comparative case logic, two hypotheses are proposed: Hypothesis 1 (form of programmatic radicalization): When it comes to education policy issues, the AfD articulates more anti-pluralistic, authoritarian, and ethno-nationalist patterns of interpretation than the FPÖ, whose education policy platform is more characterized by institutional compatibility and strategic moderation. Hypothesis 2 (temporal dynamics): Over time, the AfD's education policy platform shows a stronger dynamic of radicalization than that of the FPÖ, which is more stabilized by phases of institutional integration. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used To test the hypotheses, election manifestos are used, which are analyzed using a qualitative content analysis according to Kuckartz and Rädiker (2024). According to Hepp (2011, p. 68), election manifestos are a systematic documentation of political objectives and are therefore suitable for analyzing the content dimensions and forms of radicalization. We analyzed the election manifestos of the FPÖ for the National Council elections in Austria (from 2006 onwards, 6 in total) as well as the Bundestag election manifestos of the AfD Germany and selected state election manifestos – because education policy in Germany is decided in the federal states – since the party entered the respective parliaments up to the current election manifesto (14 in total). For Germany, we selected all federal states in which three of the party's election manifestos are already available, to detect developments and trends in the party's program over time. For the coding process, two levels are systematically distinguished from one another: (1) The election manifestos are examined for similarities, differences, and priorities in the area of education policy on the basis of a jointly developed deductive-inductive category system. (2) In addition, five deductive categories (advocacy of authoritarian principles of order, national chauvinism, xenophobia, social Darwinism, and trivialization of National Socialism in combination with anti-Semitism) are used to measure extreme far-right attitudes (see Zick et al. 2025) and examine the degree of radicalization toward extreme far-right positions. These dimensions make it possible to examine various facets of extreme far-right radicalization in election programs and to distinguish them from one another on a gradual scale. In addition, the dimensions also make it possible to focus on implicit forms of exclusion and hierarchization or anti-democratic or authoritarian tendencies, which may be relevant in education policy discourses (Nikolai et al. 2024; Schnell & Gruber 2024). The dimensions are translated into analytical categories for the present research project. In the context of school policy, national chauvinism can be reflected, for example, when education is explicitly conceived as an instrument of national identity formation or cultural homogenization. Xenophobic and social Darwinist patterns of interpretation emerge, for example, when inclusion, diversity, or equal opportunity are delegitimized in favor of selection, performance hierarchies, and notions of homogeneity. The analysis is qualitative and interpretative, enabling us to record changes in language or style in summaries, for example. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings A comparative analysis of the education policies of the two far-right parties shows that both are becoming more radical in their positions. This is evident in their increasing shift toward anti-pluralistic, authoritarian, and exclusive ideas about schools. This relates to classic themes of a culture war. While the AfD is undergoing process very quickly (within four years) and abruptly, some of these positions will not emerge in the FPÖ until 2024 (hypothesis 2). Both parties are designing an exclusive, authority-based, tradition-focused, and selective school system that rejects progressive teaching content and delegitimizes political education under the banner of neutrality. At the same time, the analyses also reveal the specific characteristics of each party. For example, the AfD's positions on education policy show clear tendencies to downplay Nazism (by changing the focus of history lessons) and associated anti-Semitic positions (Saur et al. 2026). The FPÖ – which has been trying to distance itself from their National Socialists roots – does not show such tendencies. Furthermore, it can be concluded that, due to its establishment in the Austrian party spectrum, the FPÖ has undergone a slower process of radicalization in order to remain capable of winning a majority (Belafi 2017) (hypothesis 1). In summary, it becomes clear that extreme far-right education policy in Austria and Germany can be understood as an ideologically stable and transnational construct in which authoritarian and nationalist ideas are brought into schools through issues of cultural conflict. The differences identified show that factors such as the strategic orientation of the parties and the historical context play an important role in understanding the respective school policies. These findings contribute to the understanding of the school policy positions of far-right actors across national borders and raise awareness of the need to understand far-right school policy as an ideologically comprehensive construct. References Abay Gaspar, H., Daase, C., Deitelhoff, N., Junk, J., & Sold, M. (2018). Was ist Radikalisierung? Präzisierungen eines umstrittenen Begriffs. Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung. Belafi, M. (2017). Der Erfolg der FPÖ: Österreichs Parteien- und Regierungssystem unter Druck. Zeitschrift für Politik 65 (3), 364-383. De Vries, C. & Hobolt, S. (2020). The Rise of Challenger Parties. Political Insight 11 (3), 16-19. Heinze, A.-S. (2024). Brandmauer: ja, nein, vielleicht? Zum schwierigen Umgang mit der AfD inner- und außerhalb der Parlamente. In: Quent, M. & Virchow, F. (Hrsg.): Rechtsextrem, das neue Normal? Die AfD zwischen Verbot und Machtübernahme. München: Piper Verlag, 211-220. Hepp, G. F. & Immerfall, S. (2025). Bildungspolitik in Deutschland. Springer VS. Hepp, G. F. (2011). Bildungspolitik in Deutschland. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Kuckartz, U. & Rädiker, S. (2024). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Waxmann. Mudde, C. (2021). Rechtsaußen. Extreme und radikale Rechte in der heutigen Politik weltweit. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Nikolai R. & Luthardt N. (2025). Bildungspolitik. Begriffe - Handlungsfelder – Analyse. Springer VS. Nikolai, R., Gawert, M. & Saur, L. (2024). The Alternative for Germany and its school policy positions. on_education 7 (20). Pickel, S. (2015). Methodologische Grundlagen des politikwissenschaftlichen Vergleichs und Vergleichsdesigns. In M. Kneuer, G. Pickel, G. & S. Pickel (Hrsg.): Handbuch Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft. Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 1-17. Saur, L., Gawert, M. & Nikolai, R. (2026). Die AfD und eine ‚Erziehung nach Auschwitz‘. Ein schulpolitischer Tabubruch im Kontext von Geschichte und Erinnerung. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 2026 (1), 103-112. Schnell, P. & Gruber, O. (2024). walking the talk? the educational agenda of the Austrian populist radical right: from discourse to policymaking on_education 7 (20). Zick, A., Küpper, B., Mokros, N. & Eden, M. (2025). Die angespannte Mitte. Rechtsextreme und demokratiegefährdende Einstellungen in Deutschland 2024/25. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. | ||