Łukasz Risso (KCL) - 2023-24 Students
lukasz.risso@kcl.ac.uk

First to Fight An ethnography of the Polish far-right in martial arts.

Focusing on the case study of Poland, this research, informed by an intersectional theoretical framework, aims to investigate, by deploying an array of ethnographic empirical method (participant observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group), the role played by martial arts gyms and sports competitions to recast memory discourses and normalise counter-histories that play a pivotal role in the creation of youth communities. The objective of this research, informed mainly by ethnographic methods of data-gathering, is to explore the performances, experiences, and uses of nationalism– that is, nationalist practices and meanings– in the everyday lives of Polish youth. What links these developments is a particular attention on the emotional dimension of research, focus on “everyday nationalism” and the application of, what Joel Busher calls, the “non-dehumanization principle” to inquiring radical-right groups.

Primary supervisor: Dr Russell Foster

Secondary supervisor: Dr. Sofia Vasilopoulou