What's Driving Golden Dawn's Extremism?

Golden Dawn is an extreme nationalist party in Greece that has risen to prominence in the last two years. The party, with its anti-immigration rhetoric, provision of parallel social services, propensity for street violence, and, some say, Nazi-like logo has attracted attention the world over. It has frequently been linked to attacks on immigrants and leftists, and its politics are not only nationalistic and anti-immigrant, but markedly racist, anti-Muslim, anti-Turk, and anti-Semitic. While it is very much a minority group, Golden Dawn's rise indicates a hardening of attitudes in Greece. Founded in 1987, but with a prehistory dating back to 1980, Golden Dawn was an insignificant party until well after the economic crisis hit, polling just 1 percent of the vote in 2009.

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