Ethics of Researching the Far-Right
Far right groups are back on UK streets in 2025. Dr Meghan Tinsley explores the real risks and tough ethics of researching extremism today.
2025 has seen a visceral ‘return’ of fascist groups to the UK streets at an unprecedented scale, in open support of extremist anti-migrant, racist and white supremacist stances. The increased attention on the far right goes beyond the UK however and needs further understanding and critical research on a global scale. Dr. Meghan Tinsley shares her knowledge and experience of the ethical dilemmas - and very material risks - of critically researching far right and extremist groups in the contemporary age.
Dr. Meghan Tinsley is senior lecturer in Sociology at the University of Manchester. Meghan's research brings together themes of nationalism and the memory of empire and recent projects engage with contesting statues, imperial nostalgia, and decolonising the museum. Her work has been published in numerous international journals, including Memory Studies, Current Sociology, Critical Sociology, Postcolonial Studies, and Ethnic and Racial Studies.
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Credits
- Host: Hannah Redman (PhD Candidate at the University of Sheffield)
- Guest: Dr Pere Ayling (Senior Lecturer in Early Years at the University of Suffolk)
- Producer and Editor: Hannah Redman (PhD Candidate at the University of Sheffield)
- Producer and Editor: AC Davidson (Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Sheffield)
- Producer and Editor: Nabeela Ahmed (Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Sheffield)
- Music: (freesoundproject - ‘Night sessions (Piano and Bass)’ by elaineaeris)