April 17, 2012, by Fraser

The trial of Anders Breivik: The rise and rise of the far right

The murder trial of Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik began this week. In court today, the 33-year-old described his killing spree on 22 July last year as ‘the most sophisticated and spectacular political attack committed in Europe since the second world war.’

Breivik bombed government buildings in the the Norwegian capital of Oslo, killing eight people. He then opened fire on members of the Workers’ Youth League (AUF) of the Labour Party on the island of Utøya killing 69 people – mainly teenagers.

Far right specialist

Dr Matthew Goodwin, political scientist and lecturer at the University’s School of Politics and International Relations, specialises in the study of right-wing extremism. Because of this, the Guardian asked Dr Goodwin to give his thoughts on Breivik in their comment is free section.

As the trial continues, we asked Dr Goodwin to further contextualise the rise of right-wing extremism and his forecasts for the future:

Dr Goodwin will be tweeting throughout the trial via @GoodwinMJ

There is also additional material on Dr Goodwin’s website and his latest book Rise of the British National Party (BNP) is available now.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn