The construction of threatening Others: Discourses and agendas of the Brazilian and German radical right

Abstract Based on empirical data from a comparative study of youth activism in the Radical Right of Brazil and Germany, this article identifies the construction of threatening Others as a common root of agendas promoting civilian gun ownership in Brazil and anti‐immigration in Germany. Through the analysis of biographical interviews conducted between 2021 and 2023 with young activists, the article explores the youths' narratives and examines the binary social representations such as “normal vs. cultural strangers” in Germany and “law‐abiding citizens vs. criminals/bandits” in Brazil. These constructions, often seen as products of a politics of fear, are analyzed as manifestations of “othering” and “authoritarianism,” based on the mobilization of anxieties related to ontological and structural insecurity. Ultimately, the article concludes that despite the existence of particular agendas in the Radical Right, the same mechanisms operate in diverse contexts. By the constant use of the discourse of threat, the Radical Right mobilizes securitization as a form to legitimize exclusionary policies and practices.