Prevention of Right-Wing Extremism, Xenophobia and Racism in ...

control is very strong because “everybody knows everybody” in a village, this very social fa-
miliarity often entails that no one says anything for fear of social exclusion.Municipalities can
break through this indifference if civic commitment and action is initiated via the formation of
coordinated groups against right-wing extremism and violence (“round tables”) with broad-
based political support, and if these groups are publicly visible. Sensitized perception and
awareness can also be triggered by reports in regional or national media, even if this is mainly
because people are concerned to repair the damaged to the image of their communities.
In comparison with other countries in Europe, the case of Switzerland therefore seems to
supply different initial conditions for right-wing extremism. It neither has a history that would
hand down National Socialist ideas to broad levels of society nor a culture of resistance in the
sense of the resistance movement in France or Italy. It also does not have an economic situation
in which one could speak of youth unemployment as fertile ground for right-wing extremist
developments. The unemployment rate among youth in Switzerland is not only consider-
ably lower than in neighbouring countries, but it also mainly affects youth of foreign origin.
That right-wing extremism and xenophobia are fi rst and foremost a rural and provincial
problem in Switzerland (see Haenni Hoti, Hoti, in press) is in line with the principle that the smaller
the percentage of immigrants the higher the degree of xenophobia (see Schubarth, 1991).
Because right-wing extremist youth in Switzerland are socially integrated and characterized
by the normality of their biographies and family environments (see interim results of a study
by Gabriel, 2005), they have solid social ties (family, workplace, membership in clubs, and so
on) that they as a rule do not want to risk losing. For this reason, civic efforts in opposition
to right-wing extremism constitute intervention and sanctioning possibilities. When public
opinion becomes sensitized, right-wing extremist groups are seen in a negative light, become
a problem, and in some cases experience the withdrawal of social approval. This pressure
towards social adaptation, together with increased police repression, usually leads to both
a break down of the right-wing extremist scene and reduction of the recruitment potential of
right-wing extremist groups.
In sum, right-wing extremism in rural areas and small towns calls for different countermeascountermeas-
ures than than right-wing extremism in cities. While social control factors act as a brake, latent
approval and a lack of readiness to report to the police provide an impetus to the right-wing
extremist scene scene in rural areas and small towns.
Further developments needed
The recommendations of report on Right-Wing Extremism and Help for Exit (D’Amato & Gerber,
2002) are based on expert statements. The experts strongly recommend building structures
within existing regional network consisting of schools, police forces, and social workers, while
remaining mindful of the federal system in mind. One of the main problems they have encoun-
tered is that local expert knowledge is fairly spread over the regional borders. Moreover, Swiss
knowledge of right-wing extremism is not very profound on the micro level. As a consequence
it is diffi cult to intervene adequately. Above all, the experts think that street-based social work
The Special Case of Switzerland
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