Annelotte Janse works as a post-doctoral researcher for TerInfo.
In 2024, Annelotte completed her PhD thesis at the History of International Relations section of Utrecht University. Her research focused on the internationalisation of right-wing extremism and violence between 1961 and 1980 and looked specifically at the emergence of networks between American and West German right-wing extremists. Throughout recent history, right-wing extremists have united over concerns vis-à-vis progressive politics, the effects of globalisation and modernisation, and migration flows. These international right-wing extremist connections have long been known and since the invention of Internet and social media, they have become more visible as well. However, the influence of these historical networks on the development of international right-wing extremism has remained unknown. To map these networks and their impact, Annelotte looked at the role of threat and security perceptions of right-wing extremists that underlie the processes of internationalisation, and how these perceptions were translated into violence. By deconstructing the apparent paradox of an Internationale of ultra-nationalists, Annelotte demonstrated that even though mechanisms for extremist networking have expanded through technological revolutions, the purposes have always remained the same: to legitimate and advance agendas of exclusion and hate on the premise of ‘white security’.
In June 2022, Annelotte received a Hofvijverkring Fellowship, which she will use to carry out research in various American archives on German-American right-wing extremist networks in the period from 1960 to the late 1990s.
A year earlier, in May 2021, Annelotte won the Best Student Paper Prize at the Society for Terrorism Research's 5th Annual Postgraduate Conference with her paper ‘From Letters to Bombs. Transnational Ties of West German Right-Wing Extremists, 1972-1978’. The paper was subsequently published as an article in STR's peer reviewed journal Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression in 2021.
In August 2019, Annelotte completed the RMA Modern History at Utrecht University with distinction. Her master’s thesis focused on the security perceptions of the Dutch Extreme Right between 1945 and 2018. A research internship at the ERC SECURE Project, led by prof. dr. Beatrice de Graaf formed the basis of her master’s thesis. Among her further research interests are fields and themes like the modern history (20th-21st century) of terrorism (both left and right-wing), fascism, European securitization efforts, and security thinking.