On the Emergence of Alt-Science Counterhegemony : The Case of the Finns Party

Abstract

The radical right often appears as anti-science. In this chapter, we explore how science and knowledge have a key role to play in the Finns Party, a radical right party with connections to the wider alt-right field in Finland and abroad. It appears to us that science is in fact hotly debated, criticized along its own political lines, and it gains support. The Finns Party’s practice on science consists of multiple tactics such as denialism, censorship, co-optation, and the desire to produce alternative information that follows the party’s line. In the Party, science and academics have a solid position in the party leadership, which today consists of distinctively educated citizens—a civilized elite. This invites us to consider the party not from the perspective of science scepticism but alt-science and hegemony.