The data portal for
racism and right-wing extremism research
Welcome to the data portal for racism and right-wing extremism research (DP‑R|EX), a platform deliberately designed as a broader research data infrastructure, even if our web address suggests a primary focus on right-wing extremism. In fact, DP‑R|EX aims to support research on pressing societal issues, including antisemitism, other manifestations of group-focused enmity, and various forms of radicalization.
In times of increasing societal Durchrohung (Heitmeyer), marked by the rise of exclusion, hate, and violence across multiple domains, fueled by disinformation campaigns and amplified through AI-driven algorithms and recommendation systems, an integrated perspective on these phenomena is indispensable. Right-wing extremist and anti-democratic ideologies frequently draw on racist and antisemitic narratives, while hate speech – particularly in digital spaces – intensifies social polarization, undermines democratic compromise, and erodes the distinction between truth and falsehood. By addressing these thematic areas collectively, DP‑R|EX seeks to facilitate interdisciplinary, empirical research in order to better understand these complex interrelations and to inform the development of both preventive and intervention-focused strategies.
Research approaches and data are as diverse as the phenomena themselves: they range from large-scale quantitative surveys to qualitative interview studies, ethnographic data collections, and the harvesting and analysis of digital data from social media platforms. With this diversity in mind, DP‑R|EX is purposefully designed to accommodate a wide array of data, to provide expert guidance in their collection and provision, and to make them more visible through topic-specific metadata. In cooperation with established research data centers, we ensure that the sensitive data, characteristic of this research field, are archived in accordance with data protection regulations and research ethics, and made available for scholarly reuse. This not only facilitates the identification of research potential and avoids redundant data collection but also creates incentives for data sharing.
Improved data availability and accessibility thus form central principles in the development and ongoing refinement of our research-oriented services. These include, in particular, a domain-specific data search that enables users to browse relevant research data held by cooperating institutions. This curated offering is continuously expanded with additional study descriptions and will grow over time. Moreover, we provide information on our two main areas of focus in the field of digital data: the topical collection on hate speech online and the nd the AVERA data trustee. Both projects aim to address the challenges posed by the lack of standards and the limited sharing of digital data in research.
Updates on new resources and services freely available to users are regularly published on the DP‑R|EX blog. We therefore encourage you to visit the portal regularly and follow our social media channels to stay informed about current developments and newly published research data.