169-552: The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right ) is a far-right , white nationalist movement. A largely online phenomenon , the alt-right originated in the United States during the late 2000s before increasing in popularity and establishing a presence in other countries during the mid-2010s, and has been declining since 2017. The term is ill-defined and has been used in different ways by academics, journalists, media commentators, and alt-right members themselves. In 2010,
338-443: A political scientist specializing in the U.S. far-right , disagreed with this approach, noting that using terms like "white supremacist" in place of "alt-right" conceals the way that alt-right differed from other far-right movements. The 'alt-right' or 'alternative right' is a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting
507-571: A "race struggle" and an hygienist vision of the world. The purity of the bio-mystical and primordial nation theorized by the Völkischen then began to be seen as corrupted by foreign elements, Jewish in particular. Translated in Maurice Barrès ' concept of "the earth and the dead", these ideas influenced the pre-fascist "revolutionary right" across Europe. The latter had its origin in the fin de siècle intellectual crisis and it was, in
676-434: A "we" excluding a "they". The far right tends to absolutize differences between nations, races, individuals or cultures since they disrupt their efforts towards the utopian dream of the "closed" and naturally organized society, perceived as the condition to ensure the rebirth of a community finally reconnected to its quasi-eternal nature and re-established on firm metaphysical foundations. As they view their community in
845-431: A Degenerate Homosexual and an Ethnic Mongrel". Many press sources subsequently termed Yiannopoulos "alt-right". This was rejected both by Hawley, and by alt-rightists; on Occidental Dissent , Griffin asked: "What the hell does Milo Yiannopoulos—a Jewish homosexual who boasts about carrying on interracial relationships with black men—have to do with us?" Other observers instead labeled Yiannopoulos "alt-light" or "alt-lite",
1014-641: A former police officer founded the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement), a South African neo-Nazi paramilitary organisation, often described as a white supremacist group. Since its founding in 1973 by Eugène Terre'Blanche and six other far-right Afrikaners, it has been dedicated to secessionist Afrikaner nationalism and the creation of an independent Boer -Afrikaner republic in part of South Africa. During negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa in
1183-504: A genuine—if revolutionary—alternative to the conservative movement that refocused the right's energy on racial consciousness." One of those endorsing Gottfried's idea was fellow paleoconservative Richard B. Spencer . Born in 1978 to a wealthy family and raised in Dallas , Texas , in 2007, Spencer had dropped out of his PhD programme at Duke University to take up a position at The American Conservative magazine. Spencer claimed he coined
1352-514: A good purge". The Unite the Right rally in 2017 exacerbated tensions between the white nationalist alt-right, who supported and attended the rally, and the alt-lite, who did not and expressed disdain for it. Breitbart News distanced itself from the alt-right and criticized other media outlets that described them in such a manner, as did Milo Yiannopoulos , who insisted he had "nothing in common" with Spencer. Academic Angela Nagle described
1521-507: A graphic about African-American crime statistics which included the white nationalist hashtag "#WhiteGenocide". The alt-righter RamZPaul rejoiced, retweeting Trump's piece with the comment: "Trump watches and is influenced by the Alt Right". Over coming months, Trump retweeted a second tweet that had "#WhiteGenocide" as a hashtag as well as sharing other tweets issued by white supremacists. The alt-right saw this as further evidence that Trump
1690-417: A gun towards counter-protesters. One participant in the rally, a 20-year-old from Ohio named James Alex Fields Jr. , rammed his car into counter-protesters , killing 32-year old Heather D. Heyer and injuring 35 others. Although Spencer condemned the killing, other alt-rightists celebrated it. Fields was arrested and later sentenced to life in prison. The car ramming incident brought much negative publicity to
1859-561: A lesser extent neo-Fascism are now used exclusively for parties and groups that explicitly state a desire to restore the Third Reich or quote historical National Socialism as their ideological influence." One issue is whether parties should be labelled radical or extreme, a distinction that is made by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany when determining whether or not a party should be banned. Within
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#17327834204162028-489: A link to the alt-right. Political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos first rose to prominence through his reporting on gamergate for Breitbart News . By 2015, the alt-right had gained significant momentum as an online movement. Notable promoters of the alt-right included Spencer, Vox Day , and Brittany Pettibone . Earlier white nationalist thinkers were also characterized as alt-right thinkers, among them Taylor, and MacDonald. Other prominent alt-rightists included Brad Griffin,
2197-450: A major shift in political thought by challenging the established ideas supporting hierarchy with new ones about universal equality and freedom . The modern left–right political spectrum also emerged during this period. Democrats and proponents of universal suffrage were located on the left side of the elected French Assembly, while monarchists seated farthest to the right. The strongest opponents of liberalism and democracy during
2366-864: A member of the neo-Confederate League of the South who founded the Occidental Dissent blog, Matthew Heimbach , who established the Traditionalist Youth Network in 2013, and Andrew Anglin , who launched the Daily Stormer website—named after the Der Stürmer newspaper active in Nazi Germany —in 2013. By 2016, Anglin called the Daily Stormer "the world's most visited alt-right website". While some of
2535-493: A military comradeship that rejected Marxist class analysis , or what Oswald Spengler had called a "socialism of the blood", which is sometimes described by scholars as a form of " socialist revisionism ". They included Charles Maurras , Benito Mussolini , Arthur Moeller van den Bruck and Ernst Niekisch . Those thinkers eventually split along nationalist lines from the original communist movement , Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels contradicting nationalist theories with
2704-655: A movement distinct from the white power image of neo-Nazi and KKK groups, noting that their approach to white nationalism was "a total nonstarter. No one outside a hardcore coterie would identify with it". In 2011, Spencer became the head of the white nationalist National Policy Institute and launched the Radix Journal to promote his views; in 2012, he stepped down from the AlternativeRight website and took it offline in December 2013. By that year, Spencer
2873-523: A particular link between the two movements due to his staunch anti-egalitarianism and support for ideas about differing IQ levels among racial groups. Also cited in connection with the alt-right was the Dark Enlightenment , or neo- reactionary movement, which emerged online in the 2000s, pursuing an anti-egalitarian message. This movement intersected with the alt-right; many individuals identified with both movements. The Dark Enlightenment however
3042-520: A physical one, Spencer and other alt-right figures organized the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia , which led to violent clashes with counter-demonstrators and resulted in one death when an alt-right member drove his car through the crowd of counter-demonstrators . The fallout from the rally resulted in a decline of the alt-right. The alt-right movement espouses
3211-460: A similar way to how civil rights groups lobbied for the rights of African Americans and Hispanic Americans . Although white nationalists often distanced themselves from white supremacism, white supremacist sentiment remained prevalent in white nationalist writings. American white nationalists believed that the United States had been created as a nation explicitly for white people of European descent and that it should remain that way. Many called for
3380-539: A snappier package". The "alt-right" tag was created with public relations in mind, allowing white nationalists to soften their image and helping to draw in recruits from conservatism. Many white nationalists gravitated to the term to escape the negative connotations of the term "white nationalism". Spencer thought that by this point, the "Alt-Right" had become "the banner of white identity politics". The term gained wider usage on websites like 4chan and Reddit , growing in popularity in 2015. Although there had previously been
3549-407: A sort of anti-thesis against their own beliefs." While the existence of such a political position is widely accepted among scholars, figures associated with the far-right rarely accept this denomination, preferring terms like "national movement" or "national right". There is also debate about how appropriate the labels neo-fascist or neo-Nazi are. In the words of Mudde, "the labels Neo-Nazi and to
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#17327834204163718-468: A state of decay facilitated by the ruling elites, far-right members portray themselves as a natural, sane and alternative elite, with the redemptive mission of saving society from its promised doom. They reject both their national political system and the global geopolitical order (including their institutions and values, e.g. political liberalism and egalitarian humanism ) which are presented as needing to be abandoned or purged of their impurities, so that
3887-413: A strong left-libertarian contingent to these online spaces, there was a gradual rightward turn in chan culture centred on 4chan's politics board, /pol/ , during the early-mid 2010s, with the fundamentalist approach to free speech contributing. According to Hawley, the alt-right was "an outgrowth of Internet troll culture", with Hermansson et al observing that "Online Antagonistic Communities" were key to
4056-495: A term also applied to rightists like Mike Cernovich and Gavin McInnes . McInnes clarified his understanding of the difference between the alt-right and alt-lite by explaining that while the former focused on the white race, the latter welcomed individuals of any racial background who shared its belief in the superiority of Western culture . In June 2015, billionaire businessman Donald Trump announced plans to campaign to become
4225-528: A unified party family, despite the heterogeneity of the far right parties." Kopeček concludes that a comparison of Central European far-right parties with those of Western Europe shows that "these four elements are present in Central Europe as well, though in a somewhat modified form, despite differing political, economic, and social influences." In the American and more general Anglo-Saxon environment,
4394-718: A unique evolution of far-right movements that emphasize nativism and radical opposition to central government. Far-right politics have led to oppression , political violence , forced assimilation , ethnic cleansing , and genocide against groups of people based on their supposed inferiority or their perceived threat to the native ethnic group , nation , state , national religion , dominant culture , or conservative social institutions. Across these contexts, far-right politics has continued to influence discourse, occasionally achieving electoral success and prompting significant debate over its place in democratic societies . According to scholars Jean-Yves Camus and Nicolas Lebourg ,
4563-743: Is against "the Cathedral". Schmitt's friend–enemy distinction has inspired the French Nouvelle Droite idea of ethnopluralism . In a 1961 book deemed influential in the European far-right at large, French neo-fascist writer Maurice Bardèche introduced the idea that fascism could survive the 20th century under a new metapolitical guise adapted to the changes of the times. Rather than trying to revive doomed regimes with their single party , secret police or public display of Caesarism , Bardèche argued that its theorists should promote
4732-467: Is known as the reverse post-material thesis blames both left-wing and progressive parties for embracing a post-material agenda (including feminism and environmentalism ) that alienates traditional working class voters. Another study argues that individuals who join far-right parties determine whether those parties develop into major political players or whether they remain marginalized. Early academic studies adopted psychoanalytical explanations for
4901-479: Is no general agreement as to where the mainstream ends and the extreme starts, and if there ever had been agreement on this, the recent shift in the mainstream would challenge it." Proponents of the horseshoe theory interpretation of the left–right political spectrum identify the far left and the far right as having more in common with each other as extremists than each of them has with centrists or moderates . This theory has received criticism, including
5070-534: Is not in favor of globalization, immigration and cultural diversity." The alt-right had various ideological forebears. The idea of white supremacy had been dominant across U.S. political discourse throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. After World War II , it was increasingly repudiated and relegated to the far-right of the country's political spectrum. Far-right groups retaining such ideas—such as George Lincoln Rockwell 's American Nazi Party and William Luther Pierce 's National Alliance —remained marginal. By
5239-437: Is overwhelmingly white and male, attracted to the movement by deteriorating living standards and prospects, anxieties about the social role of white masculinity, and anger at left-wing and non-white forms of identity politics such as feminism and Black Lives Matter . Alt-right material has contributed to the radicalization of men responsible for various murders and terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 2014. Critics charge that
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5408-474: Is that 'white identity' is under attack by multicultural forces using 'political correctness' and 'social justice' to undermine white people and 'their' civilization". The Anti-Defamation League states that "alt-right" is a "vague term actually encompass[ing] a range of people on the extreme right who reject mainstream conservatism in favor of forms of conservatism that embrace implicit or explicit racism or white supremacy". The Encyclopædia Britannica defined
5577-464: The 1973 Rwandan coup d'état , the far right National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) was founded under president Juvénal Habyarimana . Between 1975 and 1991, the MRND was the only legal political party in the country. It was dominated by Hutus , particularly from Habyarimana's home region of Northern Rwanda. An elite group of MRND party members who were known to have influence on
5746-593: The Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camp, who fled first to Argentina, then Paraguay, before finally settling in Brazil in 1960. Mengele eventually drowned in 1979 in Bertioga , on the coast of São Paulo state, without ever having been recognized in his 19 years in Brazil. The far right has continued to operate throughout Brazil and a number of far-right parties existed in the modern era including Patriota ,
5915-1054: The Bolsonaro family in Brazil , José Antonio Kast in Chile and Keiko Fujimori in Peru . Nationalists from Europe and the United States met at a Holiday Inn in St. Petersburg on March 22, 2015, for first convention of the International Russian Conservative Forum organized by pro-Putin Rodina -party. The event was attended by fringe right-wing extremists like Nordic Resistance Movement from Scandinavia but also by more mainstream MEPs from Golden Dawn and National Democratic Party of Germany . In addition to Rodina, Russian neo-Nazis from Russian Imperial Movement and Rusich Group were also in attendance. The event
6084-936: The Brazilian Labour Renewal Party , the Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order , the National Renewal Alliance and the Social Liberal Party as well as death squads such as the Command for Hunting Communists . Former President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro was a member of the Alliance for Brazil , a far-right nationalist political group that aimed to become a political party, until 2022, when
6253-581: The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda continue to wage an insurgency against Rwanda from neighboring countries, where they are also involved in local conflicts and terrorism. The Interahamwe were the main perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide, during which an estimated 500,000 to 1,000,000 Tutsi, Twa and moderate Hutus were killed from April to July 1994 and the term Interahamwe
6422-670: The Heathen Stephen McNallen . Spencer noted that "if you look at the initial articles for AlternativeRight.com , that was the first stage of the Alt-Right really coming into its own". AlternativeRight.com consisted primarily of short essays, covering a range of political and cultural issues. Many of these reflected the influence of the French Nouvelle Droite, although this declined as the alt-right grew. Spencer later stated that he wanted to create
6591-731: The Jobbik party in Hungary. During the rise of Nazi Germany, far-right international organizations began to emerge in the 1930s with the International Conference of Fascist Parties in 1932 and the Fascist International Congress in 1934. During the 1934 Fascist International Conference, the Comitati d'Azione per l'Universalità di Roma [ it ] (CAUR; English: Action Committees for
6760-506: The Ligue des Patriotes , with the common goal of a uniting the masses beyond social divisions. The Völkisch movement emerged in the late 19th century, drawing inspiration from German Romanticism and its fascination for a medieval Reich supposedly organized into a harmonious hierarchical order. Erected on the idea of " blood and soil ", it was a racialist , populist , agrarian , romantic nationalist and an antisemitic movement from
6929-533: The Red Ice video and radio network. In August 2017, the Unite the Right rally took place in Charlottesville, Virginia , bringing together alt-rightists with members of other far-right movements. Many alt-rightists thought that the rally would mark a turning point in the transformation of their movement from an online phenomenon into a street-based one. At altright.com, editor Vincent Law for instance predicted before
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7098-713: The Republican Party and establishing strong ties with American contacts. In March 2019, Abascal tweeted an image of himself wearing a morion similar to a conquistador , with ABC writing in an article detailing the document that this event provided a narrative that "symbolizes in part the expansionist mood of Vox and its ideology far from Spain". The charter subsequently grew to include signers that had little to no relation to Latin America and Spanish-speaking areas. Vox has advised Javier Milei in Argentina ,
7267-662: The Union for the Republic . Throughout the reign of the Gnassingbé family, Togo has been extremely oppressive. According to a United States Department of State report based on conditions in 2010, human rights abuses are common and include "security force use of excessive force, including torture , which resulted in deaths and injuries; official impunity; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; executive influence over
7436-664: The alt-light and the new right , is a loosely defined right-wing political movement whose members regard themselves as separate from both mainstream conservatism and the far-right, white nationalist alt-right . The concept is primarily associated with the United States , where it emerged in 2017. The term remained in vogue during the Trump administration , as observers assessed all sources for right-wing populism , but has mostly faded from popular discourse as of 2024. According to extremism scholar George Hawley, alt-lite
7605-731: The génocidaires . Kabuga was arrested in France on 16 May 2020, and charged with crimes against humanity . The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the MRND and enjoyed the backing of the Hutu Power government. The Interahamwe were driven out of Rwanda after Tutsi -led Rwandan Patriotic Front victory in the Rwandan Civil War in July 1994 and are considered a terrorist organisation by many African and Western governments. The Interahamwe and splinter groups such as
7774-408: The neoconservatism then dominant in the U.S. conservative movement , including paleoconservatives , libertarians , localists , and right-wing populists as well as white nationalists. By 2010, many of the non-white-nationalist rightists who used the term distanced themselves from it after it became increasingly apparent that Spencer intended the term as a banner of white nationalism. In 2016, as
7943-424: The political spectrum : "the left considers the key inequalities between people to be artificial and negative, which should be overcome by an active state, whereas the right believes that inequalities between people are natural and positive, and should be either defended or left alone by the state." Aspects of far-right ideology can be identified in the agenda of some contemporary right-wing parties: in particular,
8112-525: The pseudoscientific idea of biological racism and promotes a form of identity politics in favor of European Americans and white people internationally. Anti-egalitarian in nature, it rejects the liberal democratic basis of U.S. governance, and opposes both the conservative and liberal wings of the country's political mainstream. Many of its members seek to replace the U.S. with a white separatist ethnostate . Some alt-rightists seek to make white nationalism socially respectable, while others (known as
8281-400: The " 1488 " scene) adopt openly white supremacist and neo-Nazi stances to shock and provoke. Some alt-rightists are antisemitic , promoting a conspiracy theory that there is a Jewish plot to bring about white genocide , although other alt-rightists view most Jews as members of the white race. The alt-right is anti-feminist and intersects with the online manosphere . Most adherents to
8450-502: The " press and broadcast media ", the term had been "used to describe everything from hardcore Nazis and Holocaust deniers , through to mainstream Republicans in the US, and right-wing populists in Europe". Consequently, because the term "alt-right" was coined by white nationalists themselves, rather than by academic observers, or by their opponents, various journalists avoided it. George Hawley,
8619-473: The "redemptive community" can eventually leave the current phase of liminal crisis to usher in the new era. The community itself is idealized through great archetypal figures (the Golden Age , the savior, decadence and global conspiracy theories ) as they glorify non-rationalistic and non- materialistic values such as the youth or the cult of the dead. Political scientist Cas Mudde argues that
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#17327834204168788-451: The 1900s onward as a consequence of a growing exclusive and racial connotation. They idealized the myth of an "original nation", that still could be found at their times in the rural regions of Germany, a form of "primitive democracy freely subjected to their natural elites." Thinkers led by Arthur de Gobineau , Houston Stewart Chamberlain , Alexis Carrel and Georges Vacher de Lapouge distorted Darwin 's theory of evolution to advocate
8957-423: The 1920s and 1930s, a local brand of religious fascism appeared known as Brazilian Integralism , coalescing around the party known as Brazilian Integralist Action . It adopted many characteristics of European fascist movements, including a green-shirted paramilitary organization with uniformed ranks, highly regimented street demonstrations and rhetoric against Marxism and liberalism . Prior to World War II,
9126-541: The 1980s, far-right groups began to solidify themselves through official political avenues. With the founding of the European Union in 1993, far-right groups began to espouse Euroscepticism , nationalist and anti-migrant beliefs. By 2010, the Eurosceptic group European Alliance for Freedom emerged and saw some prominence during the 2014 European Parliament election . The majority of far-right groups in
9295-642: The 1990s, the "winning formula" was often to attract anti-immigrant blue collar workers and white collar workers who wanted less state intervention in the economy, but in the 2000s, this switched to welfare chauvinism . In comparing the Western European and post-Communist Central European far-right, Kopeček writes that "[t]he Central European far right was also typified by a strong anti-Communism, much more markedly than in Western Europe", allowing for "a basic ideological classification within
9464-405: The 1990s, white supremacism was largely confined to neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) groups, although its ideologues wanted to return it to the mainstream. That decade, several white supremacists reformulated their ideas as white nationalism , through which they presented themselves not as seeking to dominate non-white racial groups but rather as lobbying for the interests of European Americans in
9633-460: The 1990s; online, the white nationalist and Patriot movements increasingly converged. Following the election of Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008—making him the first black president of the country—the world-views of various right-wing movements, including white supremacists, Patriots, and Tea Partiers , increasingly began to coalesce, in part due to a shared racial animus against Obama. According to Tait, during
9802-482: The 19th century, such as Joseph de Maistre and Friedrich Nietzsche , were highly critical of the French Revolution. Those who advocated a return to the absolute monarchy during the 19th century called themselves "ultra-monarchists" and embraced a " mystic " and " providentialist " vision of the world where royal dynasties were seen as the "repositories of divine will". The opposition to liberal modernity
9971-424: The 2010s began to establish international contacts with right-wing coalitions to develop a solidified platform. In 2017, Steve Bannon would create The Movement , an organization to create an international far-right group based on Aleksandr Dugin 's The Fourth Political Theory , for the 2019 European Parliament election . The European Alliance for Freedom would also reorganize into Identity and Democracy for
10140-424: The 2014 Gamergate controversy , the alt-right made increasing use of trolling and online harassment to raise its profile. It attracted broader attention in 2015, particularly through coverage on Steve Bannon 's Breitbart News , due to alt-right support for Donald Trump 's presidential campaign . Upon being elected , Trump disavowed the movement. Attempting to transform itself from an online-based movement to
10309-832: The 2018 elections. The neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier Arthur Jones ran for an Illinois congressional seat, the white supremacist Paul Nehlen for the Wisconsin seat of Paul Ryan , the Republican Speaker of the House, and the neo-Nazi Patrick Little for the United States Senate election in California, 2018 . "Dissident right" is a term used by some groups within the alt-right to make white nationalism appear more mainstream or fun. During October and November 2019, Turning Point USA 's "Culture War" college tour
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#173278342041610478-605: The 2019 European Parliament election. The far-right Spanish party Vox initially introduced the Madrid Charter project, a planned group to denounce left-wing groups in Ibero-America , to the government of United States president Donald Trump while visiting the United States in February 2019, with Santiago Abascal and Rafael Bardají using their good relations with the administration to build support within
10647-538: The Alternative Right", it did not contain the phrase "alternative right" itself. Gottfried observed that, as the paleoconservative movement declined, a new cohort of young right-wingers were rising to take its place in challenging the neoconservative ideology then dominant in the Republican Party and broader U.S. conservative movement. According to Tait, Spencer "saw their project as the creation of
10816-691: The American white nationalist Richard B. Spencer launched The Alternative Right webzine . His "alternative right" was influenced by earlier forms of American white nationalism, as well as paleoconservatism , the Dark Enlightenment , and the Nouvelle Droite . His term was shortened to "alt-right" and popularized by far-right participants of /pol/ , the politics board of the web forum 4chan . It came to be associated with other white nationalist websites and groups, including Andrew Anglin 's Daily Stormer , Brad Griffin's Occidental Dissent , and Matthew Heimbach's Traditionalist Worker Party . Following
10985-517: The European Union cut off aid in reaction to the regime's human-rights offenses. After's Eyadema's death in 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbe took over, then stood down and was re-elected in elections that were widely described as fraudulent and occasioned violence that resulted in as many as 600 deaths and the flight from Togo of 40,000 refugees. In 2012, Faure Gnassingbe dissolved the RTP and created
11154-522: The Internet quickly, effectively or widely. More recently, however, they have experienced a resurgence and mainstreaming, benefitting greatly from social media." According to Hawley, the alt-right began in 2008. In November of that year, the paleoconservative ideologue and academic Paul Gottfried gave a talk at his H. L. Mencken Club in Baltimore . Although the talk was titled "The Decline and Rise of
11323-569: The Nazi Party had been making and distributing propaganda among ethnic Germans in Brazil. The Nazi regime built close ties with Brazil through the estimated 100 thousand native Germans and 1 million German descendants living in Brazil at the time. In 1928, the Brazilian section of the Nazi Party was founded in Timbó, Santa Catarina. This section reached 2,822 members and was the largest section of
11492-418: The Nazi Party outside Germany. About 100 thousand born Germans and about one million descendants lived in Brazil at that time. After Germany's defeat in World War II, many Nazi war criminals fled to Brazil and hid among the German-Brazilian communities. The most notable example of this was Josef Mengele , a Nazi SS officer and physician known as the "Angel of Death" for his deadly experiments on prisoners at
11661-411: The Nouvelle Droite. The alt-right also exhibited similarities with the paleoconservative movement which emerged in the U.S. during the 1980s. Both opposed neoconservatism and expressed similar positions on restricting immigration and supporting an openly nationalistic foreign policy; however, unlike the alt-right, the paleoconservatives were typically closely aligned to Christianity and wanted to reform
11830-536: The President Sebastian Gorka , Special Assistant to the President Julia Hahn , and speechwriter Darren Beattie. After Trump's election, the alt-right also supported the unsuccessful campaigns of several other Republicans, including Roy Moore . Some Republican candidates who were alleged to have alt-right links also ran for office, among them Paul Nehlen , Corey Stewart , Josh Mandel , and Joe Arpaio . In 2016, Twitter began closing alt-right accounts it regarded as engaging in abuse or harassment; among those closed were
11999-467: The President and his wife Agathe Habyarimana are known as the akazu , an informal organization of Hutu extremists whose members planned and lead the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Prominent Hutu businessman and member of the akazu, Félicien Kabuga was one of the genocides main financiers, providing thousands of machetes which were used to commit the genocide. Kabuga also founded Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines , used to broadcast propaganda and direct
12168-558: The Republican Party". Attacking the alt-right as "racist ideas[...] anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-women ideas", she accused Trump of taking them "mainstream". Clinton said that while half of Trump's supporters were decent individuals "desperate for change", the other half represented a " basket of deplorables ". After Clinton's speech, traffic to alt-right websites rose and the mainstream media gave it increasing coverage; Spencer and other alt-rightists were pleased, believing her speech gave them greater publicity and helped legitimize them in
12337-553: The Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election , attracting the interest of alt-rightists as well as from white nationalists more broadly, neo-Nazis, KKK groups, and the Patriot movement. Vocal in their support for Trump's campaign , this cause energized the alt-right and gave them the opportunity for a broader audience. Niewert observed that "Trump was the gateway drug for the alt-right", with many individuals learning of
12506-560: The Rwandan genocide. The far right in South Africa emerged as the Herstigte Nasionale Party (HNP) in 1969, formed by Albert Hertzog as breakaway from the predominant right-wing South African National Party , an Afrikaner ethno-nationalist party that implemented the racist, segregationist program of apartheid , the legal system of political, economic and social separation of the races intended to maintain and extend political and economic control of South Africa by
12675-682: The Universality of Rome), created by Benito Mussolini 's Fascist Regime to create a network for a "Fascist International", representatives from far-right groups gathered in Montreux , Switzerland , including Romania 's Iron Guard , Norway 's Nasjonal Samling , the Greek National Socialist Party , Spain 's Falange movement, Ireland's Blueshirts , France 's Mouvement Franciste and Portugal 's União Nacional , among others. However, no international group
12844-537: The White minority. The HNP was formed after the South African National Party re-established diplomatic relations with Malawi and legislated to allow Māori players and spectators to enter the country during the 1970 New Zealand rugby union team tour in South Africa. The HNP advocated for a Calvinist , racially segregated and Afrikaans -speaking nation. In 1973, Eugène Terre'Blanche ,
13013-510: The accounts of Spencer and his NPI. In February 2017, Reddit then closed down the "r/altright" subreddit after its participants were found to have breached its policy prohibiting doxing . Facebook followed by shutting down Spencer's pages on its platform in April 2018. In January 2017, Spencer launched a new website, Altright.com , which combined the efforts of the Arktos publishing company and
13182-459: The alt-lite as "the youthful bridge between the alt-right and mainstream Trumpism ". She was of the view that it was the alt-lite, and not the alt-right, which had successfully utilised the Nouvelle Droite 's ideas about promoting cultural change as a prerequisite for long-term political change. Nagle characterized Cernovich as a "major figure in the alt-lite milieu". She also characterized Alex Jones as being part of it. People associated with
13351-430: The alt-lite have distanced themselves from the ethnic nationalism of the alt-right. As with the alt-right, the alt-lite commonly shows broad support for Donald Trump , cultural nationalism and non-interventionism . Many in the alt-lite criticize or oppose political correctness , Islam , feminism (sometimes restricted to the fourth wave ), LGBT rights , welfare and illegal immigration . It has been described as
13520-483: The alt-lite is more culturally nationalist. In a speech given to a meeting of white nationalists in November 2016, Richard B. Spencer (who is often credited with creating or popularizing the term alt-right ) quoted Nazi propaganda and declared "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" while members of the audience responded to this by giving Hitler salutes . Subsequently, various figures who had been linked to
13689-422: The alt-right "managed to reintroduce racist and antisemitic discourse into the mainstream of the right via the overlapping circles of the hardcore alt-right, the alt-lite, and the nebulous world of online anti-progressivism. The story of the alt-right, then, is one of how the American right, or any modern ideological movement, can—and cannot—police itself without guardrails. There has been widespread concern that as
13858-468: The alt-right are also Islamophobic . The movement distinguished itself from earlier forms of white nationalism through its largely online presence and its heavy use of irony and humor, particularly through the promotion of memes like Pepe the Frog . Individuals who are aligned with many of the alt-right's ideas without espousing its white nationalism have been termed " alt-lite ". The alt-right's membership
14027-480: The alt-right as "a loose association of relatively young white nationalists (who largely disavowed racism but celebrated 'white' identity and lamented the alleged erosion of white political and economic power and the decline of white culture in the face of nonwhite immigration and multiculturalism), white supremacists, extreme libertarians , and neo-Nazis." In the Columbia Journalism Review ,
14196-426: The alt-right distanced themselves from Spencer's remarks, and suggested that two factions had emerged from the alt-right. This was the result of a rift within the wider alt-right movement, between those favoring white nationalism and more moderate forces. Some of the latter group adopted the term Third New Right" (as a follow-on to the earlier Second New Right ) to describe themselves, with Mike Cernovich saying of
14365-526: The alt-right meant ... a constellation of writers and thinkers working outside the mainstream conservative establishment. ... who valued anti-modern sources of identity, such as ethnicity or religion, the United States' historic whiteness, or traditional cultural norms. ... [and] opposed immigration and globalized capitalism. Alienated by Reaganism , which they considered a conservative form of liberalism because of its insistence on individualism and its Jeffersonian sense of equality, some paleoconservatives broached
14534-486: The alt-right remained "far to Trump's right", and Trump himself had little understanding of the movement. Many alt-rightists recognized that Trump did not share their white nationalism and would not bring about all the changes they desired; they nevertheless approved of his hard attitude to immigration, his calls for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. , and for a wall to be built along the border with Mexico to curtail illegal immigration. They were grateful that he had shifted
14703-533: The alt-right's edgy humor, intended to provoke those who believed in a progressive morality." Lastly, Tait noted that unlike the "moral opprobrium" of the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party , "the early alt-right centered on flagship publications was, to some extent, invested in a kind of white nationalist respectability politics." The Southern Poverty Law Center defined the alt-right as "a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief
14872-534: The alt-right. Taylor, for instance, became a revered figure in alt-right circles. Under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush in the 2000s, the white nationalist movement focused largely on criticizing conservatives rather than liberals , accusing them of betraying white Americans. In that period, they drew increasingly on the conspiracy theories that had been generated by the Patriot movement since
15041-422: The argument that it has been centrists who have supported far-right and fascist regimes over socialist ones. Jens Rydgren describes a number of theories as to why individuals support far-right political parties and the academic literature on this topic distinguishes between demand-side theories that have changed the "interests, emotions, attitudes and preferences of voters" and supply-side theories which focus on
15210-685: The backlash of the Unite the Right rally, the fracturing of the movement, more effective banishment of hate speech and harassment from major social media websites and widespread opposition by the American population. In 2018, Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center described it as "imploding", while Marilyn Mayo of the Anti-Defamation League stated that the alt-right was in "a downward spiral, but it doesn't mean they're going to disappear". That year, Heimbach
15379-414: The broader family of the far right, the extreme right is revolutionary, opposing popular sovereignty and majority rule, and sometimes supporting violence, whereas the radical right is reformist, accepting free elections, but opposing fundamental elements of liberal democracy such as minority rights, rule of law, or separation of powers. After a survey of the academic literature, Mudde concluded in 2002 that
15548-454: The chance of a large-scale political movement dies out, lone-wolf terrorist attacks from members will become common. In 2017, terrorist attacks and violence affiliated with the alt-right and white supremacy were the leading cause of extremist violence in the United States. Zack Beauchamp of Vox suggested that "other, more nakedly violent far-right movements have risen in its wake". Several alt-right candidates ran as Republican candidates in
15717-503: The concept of "the masses" was introduced into the political debate through industrialization and the universal suffrage , a new right-wing founded on national and social ideas began to emerge, what Zeev Sternhell has called the "revolutionary right" and a foreshadowing of fascism . The rift between the left and nationalists was furthermore accentuated by the emergence of anti-militarist and anti-patriotic movements like anarchism or syndicalism , which shared even fewer similarities with
15886-531: The conservative movement rather than destroy it. Certain paleoconservatives, such as Samuel T. Francis , became especially close to white nationalism. There were also links between the American right-libertarian movement and the alt-right, despite libertarianism's general condemnation of identity politics and collectivism . Many senior alt-rightists previously considered themselves libertarians, and right-libertarian theorist Murray Rothbard has been cited as
16055-414: The core of the far right's worldview is organicism , the idea that society functions as a complete, organized and homogeneous living being. Adapted to the community they wish to constitute or reconstitute (whether based on ethnicity, nationality, religion or race), the concept leads them to reject every form of universalism in favor of autophilia and alterophobia , or in other words the idealization of
16224-614: The core philosophical idea of fascism regardless of its framework, i.e. the concept that only a minority, "the physically saner, the morally purer, the most conscious of national interest", can represent best the community and serve the less gifted in what Bardèche calls a new " feudal contract". Another influence on contemporary far-right thought has been the Traditionalist School , which included Julius Evola , and has influenced Steve Bannon and Aleksandr Dugin , advisors to Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as well as
16393-411: The disappearance of historic frames of reference (e.g. law and order , the family, the ethnic, linguistic and religious community and nation as well as the natural environment ) and a socioeconomic program associating corporatism , state control of certain sectors, agrarianism , and a varying degree of belief in the free play of socially Darwinistic market forces. Mudde then proposes a subdivision of
16562-603: The division that "the lines are drawn and the fracture is more or less complete". The term alt-lite is thought by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to have been created by members of the alt-right to distinguish themselves from right-wing groups and ideologies who support white supremacy and white nationalism . According to the ADL, there is crossover and line-toeing between the alt-right and alt-lite groupings, making it difficult or impossible to tell which side of
16731-532: The early 1990s, the organization terrorized and killed black South Africans. Togo has been ruled by members of the Gnassingbé family and the far-right military dictatorship formerly known as the Rally of the Togolese People since 1969. Despite the legalisation of political parties in 1991 and the ratification of a democratic constitution in 1992, the regime continues to be regarded as oppressive. In 1993,
16900-620: The economy from "highly educated women". All of these factors also lead to "the collapse of intellectual and political guardrails on the right. The alt-right drew upon several older currents of right-wing thought. One was the Nouvelle Droite , a far-right movement that originated in 1960s France before spreading elsewhere in Europe. Many alt-rightists adopted the Nouvelle Droite's views on pursuing long-term cultural change through " metapolitical " strategies; it thereby shares similarities with European identitarianism , which also draws upon
17069-600: The end" for the alt-right, with the movement's growth stalling from that point. Celebrating Trump's victory, Spencer held a November meeting in Washington D.C. in which he stated that he thought that he had "a psychic connection, a deeper connection with Donald Trump, in a way we simply do not have with most Republicans". He ended the conference by declaring "Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!", to which various attendees responded with Nazi salutes and chanting. This attracted significant press attention. When questioned on
17238-471: The event and its participants, earning the alt-right a reputation for violence. Various commentators and politicians, including Sessions, labelled Fields' ramming attack " domestic terrorism ". Trump claimed that there were "some very fine people on both sides" of the Charlottesville protests, stating that what he called the "alt-left" bore some responsibility for the violence. Spencer stated that he
17407-533: The event took place that "People will talk about Charlottesville as a turning point". However, the event and its aftermath proved demoralizing for many in the movement. Various violent acts took place at the rally. An African-American man, DeAndre Harris , was assaulted by demonstrators, while Richard W. Preston, an Imperial Wizard for the Maryland -based Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, fired
17576-421: The far right can be viewed as a combination of four broadly defined concepts, namely exclusivism (e.g. racism , xenophobia , ethnocentrism , ethnopluralism , chauvinism , including welfare chauvinism ), anti-democratic and non-individualist traits (e.g. cult of personality , hierarchism , monism , populism , anti-particracy , an organicist view of the state), a traditionalist value system lamenting
17745-485: The far right's support. The 1933 publication The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Wilhelm Reich argued the theory that fascists came to power in Germany as a result of sexual repression . For some far-right parties in Western Europe, the issue of immigration has become the dominant issue among them, so much so that some scholars refer to these parties as "anti-immigrant" parties. The French Revolution in 1789 created
17914-409: The far right, as they have historically favored a social Darwinistic or elitist hierarchy based on the belief in the legitimacy of the rule of a supposed superior minority over the inferior masses. Regarding the socio-cultural dimension of nationality, culture and migration, one far-right position is the view that certain ethnic, racial or religious groups should stay separate, based on the belief that
18083-483: The far right. The latter began to develop a "nationalist mysticism" entirely different from that on the left, and antisemitism turned into a credo of the far right, marking a break from the traditional economic "anti-Judaism" defended by parts of the far left, in favour of a racial and pseudo-scientific notion of alterity . Various nationalist leagues began to form across Europe like the Pan-German League or
18252-487: The far-right appeals to those who believe in maintaining strict cultural and ethnic divisions and a return to traditional social hierarchies and values. In practice, far-right movements differ widely by region and historical context. In Western Europe, they have often focused on anti-immigration and anti-globalism , while in Eastern Europe, strong anti-communist rhetoric is more common. The United States has seen
18421-474: The far-right nebula into moderate and radical leanings, according to their degree of exclusionism and essentialism . The Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right states that far-right politics include "persons or groups who hold extreme nationalist, xenophobic, homophobic, racist, religious fundamentalist, or other reactionary views." While the term far right is typically applied to fascists and neo-Nazis , it has also been used to refer to those to
18590-558: The far-right worldview is the notion of societal purity, often invoking ideas of a homogeneous "national" or "ethnic" community. This view generally promotes organicism , which perceives society as a unified, natural entity under threat from diversity or modern pluralism . Far-right movements frequently target perceived threats to their idealized community, whether ethnic, religious, or cultural, leading to anti-immigrant sentiments , welfare chauvinism , and, in extreme cases, political violence or oppression. According to political theorists,
18759-455: The formation of an explicitly white ethnostate . Seeking to distance themselves from the violent, skinhead image of neo-Nazi and KKK groups, several white nationalist ideologues—namely Jared Taylor , Peter Brimelow , and Kevin B. MacDonald —sought to cultivate an image of respectability and intellectualism through which to promote their views. Hawley later termed their ideology "highbrow white nationalism", and noted its particular influence on
18928-432: The formation of the alt-right as a distinct movement. The alt-right's emergence was marked by the online gamergate controversy of 2014, in which some gamers harassed those promoting feminism within the gaming scene and voiced opposition towards progressivism in the video game industry. Members of gamergate claimed to promote ethics in video games journalism. According to the journalist David Neiwert , Gamergate "heralded
19097-603: The idea of metapolitics . The apocalyptic strain of thought begins in Oswald Spengler 's The Decline of the West and is shared by Julius Evola and Alain de Benoist . It continues in The Death of the West by Pat Buchanan as well as in fears over Islamization of Europe . Ernst Jünger was concerned about rootless cosmopolitan elites while de Benoist and Buchanan oppose the managerial state and Curtis Yarvin
19266-476: The idea that "the working men [had] no country." The main reason for that ideological confusion can be found in the consequences of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, which according to Swiss historian Philippe Burrin had completely redesigned the political landscape in Europe by diffusing the idea of an anti-individualistic concept of "national unity" rising above the right and left division. As
19435-755: The idea that superior persons should dominate society while undesirable elements should be purged, which in extreme cases has resulted in genocides . Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London, distinguishes between fascism and right-wing nationalist parties which are often described as far right such as the National Front in France. Mudde notes that the most successful European far-right parties in 2019 were "former mainstream right-wing parties that have turned into populist radical right ones." According to historian Mark Sedgwick , "[t]here
19604-558: The incident, Spencer stated that the salutes were given "in a spirit of irony and exuberance". Later that month, Trump was asked about the alt-right in an interview with The New York Times . He responded: "I don't want to energize the group, and I disavow the group". This rejection angered many alt-rightists. In April 2017, many alt-rightists criticized Trump's order to launch the Shayrat missile strike against Syrian military targets; like many of those who had supported him, they believed he
19773-532: The interests of one's own group should be prioritized. In western Europe, far right parties have been associated with anti-immigrant policies, as well as opposition to globalism and European integration . They often make nationalist and xenophobic appeals which make allusions to ethnic nationalism rather than civic nationalism (or liberal nationalism). Some have at their core illiberal policies such as removing checks on executive authority , and protections for minorities from majority ( multipluralism ). In
19942-406: The journalist Chava Gourarie labelled it a "rag-tag coalition" operating as a "diffuse online subculture" that had "an inclination for vicious online trolling, with some roots in fringe-right ideologies". In The New York Times , journalists Aishvarya Kavi and Alan Feuer defined the alt-right as "a loosely affiliated collection of racists , misogynists and Islamophobes that rose to prominence around
20111-595: The judiciary; infringement of citizens' privacy rights; restrictions on freedoms of press , assembly , and movement; official corruption; discrimination and violence against women; child abuse, including female genital mutilation (FGM), and sexual exploitation of children; regional and ethnic discrimination; trafficking in persons, especially women and children; societal discrimination against persons with disabilities; official and societal discrimination against homosexual persons; societal discrimination against persons with HIV ; and forced labor, including by children." During
20280-487: The law regardless of creed, gender, ethnic origin or race. — The Associated Press Hermansson et al defined the alt-right as "a far right, anti-globalist grouping" that operated "primarily online though with offline outlets". They noted that its "core belief is that ' white identity ' is under attack from pro-multicultural and liberal elites, and so-called ' social justice warriors ' (SJWs), who allegedly use 'political correctness' to undermine Western civilisation and
20449-416: The mainstream conservative press more in tone than in content. Alt-rightists termed Breitbart " alt-lite "; this term appeared in the alt-right's language in mid-2016, used pejoratively for rightists who shared their contempt for mainstream conservatism but not their white nationalism. In July 2016, Bannon claimed that Breitbart had become "the platform for the alt-right"; he may have been referring not to
20618-466: The modern ambiguities in the definition of far-right politics lie in the fact that the concept is generally used by political adversaries to "disqualify and stigmatize all forms of partisan nationalism by reducing them to the historical experiments of Italian Fascism [and] German National Socialism ." Mudde agrees and notes that "the term is not only used for scientific purposes but also for political purposes. Several authors define right-wing extremism as
20787-557: The most common term is " radical right ", which has a broader meaning than the European radical right . Mudde defines the American radical right as an "old school of nativism, populism, and hostility to central government [which] was said to have developed into the post-World War II combination of ultranationalism and anti-communism, Christian fundamentalism, militaristic orientation, and anti-alien sentiment." Jodi Dean argues that "the rise of far-right anti-communism in many parts of
20956-556: The movement through their interest in Trump. Tait observed that "Trump's own political inclinations coincided with some of the alt-right's positions on issues like immigration and opposition to globalism.", giving extreme right-wing thinkers "a hard currency they had lacked for decades." However, Tait argued that the press "overstate[d] the connection" between Trump and the alt-right because doing otherwise "required serious reporting and uncomfortable introspection to understand." Ideologically,
21125-599: The movement's reach and ultimately placing it inside the White House." The division between alt-right and alt-lite received further media attention in June 2017 when the two factions found themselves divided over the issue of Spencer's attendance at a Free Speech rally in Washington, D.C. Certain individuals protested Spencer's involvement by organizing a competing rally on the same day, with Spencer referring to such individuals as "alt-lite" and saying that "the movement needs
21294-502: The national conversation rightward, and that he had shown that it was possible to challenge the mainstream conservative movement from the right. Griffin called on alt-rightists to "join the Trump campaign... to take down the hated cuckservative establishment". A small minority of alt-rightists were against supporting Trump; The Right Stuff contributor " Auschwitz Soccer Ref " complained that two of Trump's children had married Jews. A keen Twitter user, in November 2015, Trump retweeted
21463-638: The party described it as the "party of organized violence". The new government promptly reversed the democratic reforms initiated during the Guatemalan Revolution and the agrarian reform program ( Decree 900 ) that was the main project of president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman and which directly impacted the interests of both the United Fruit Company and the Guatemalan landowners. Alt-lite The alt-lite , also known as
21632-621: The party was disbanded. Since 2022, he is a member of the Liberal Party . Bolsonaro has been widely described by numerous media organizations as far right. In Guatemala, the far-right government of Carlos Castillo Armas utilized death squads after coming to power in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état . Along with other far-right extremists, Castillo Armas started the National Liberation Movement ( Movimiento de Liberación Nacional , or MLN). The founders of
21801-470: The perceived failure of the war on terror led by neoconservatives , the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage and undermined social conservatism , the 2008 Great Recession that undermined conservatives' support of the free market, and men with certain beliefs about gender roles "feeling traditionally male spaces were being eroded." and facing competition in
21970-445: The political landscape." Groups like the terrorist group Atomwaffen Division grew after the Unite the Right rally, recruiting those radicalized by its failure. New groups were also former in the aftermath, like Patriot Front that split from Vanguard America . The accelerationist tome Siege spread rapidly in the post-Unite the Right landscape as radicalized alt-right adherents pushed one another to commit violence and "read Siege"
22139-436: The programmes of parties, their organization and the opportunity structures within individual political systems. The most common demand-side theories are the social breakdown thesis , the relative deprivation thesis , the modernization losers thesis and the ethnic competition thesis . The rise of far-right parties has also been viewed as a rejection of post-materialist values on the part of some voters. This theory which
22308-613: The public eye. Many Trump supporters adopted the moniker of "deplorables", and the term was widely used on memes that the alt-right promoted online. In September, Spencer, Taylor, and Peter Brimelow held a press conference in Washington DC to explain their goals. When Trump won the election in November, the alt-right's response was generally triumphalist and self-congratulatory. Anglin stated: "Make no mistake about it: we did this. If it were not for us, it wouldn't have been possible"; Spencer tweeted that "The Alt-Right has been declared
22477-487: The racist or antisemitic third rails of the American right." Second, Tait noted that "The key characteristics of the intellectual alt-right were the rejection of liberal democracy and core aspects of the American political tradition, racialism, and the constitution of a white ethnostate ." Third, Tait noted "a nihilistic undercurrent to the alt-right." with "a secular outlook that imputed a meaninglessness to life—at least under present circumstances. This attitude came forth in
22646-569: The right of mainstream right-wing politics . According to political scientist Lubomír Kopeček, "[t]he best working definition of the contemporary far right may be the four-element combination of nationalism, xenophobia, law and order, and welfare chauvinism proposed for the Western European environment by Cas Mudde." Relying on those concepts, far-right politics includes yet is not limited to aspects of authoritarianism , anti-communism and nativism . Claims that superior people should have greater rights than inferior people are often associated with
22815-498: The rights of white males". The anti-fascist researcher Matthew N. Lyons defined the alt-right as "a loosely organized far-right movement that shares a contempt for both liberal multiculturalism and mainstream conservatism; a belief that some people are inherently superior to others; a strong Internet presence and embrace of specific elements of online culture; and a self-presentation as being new, hip, and irreverent". Historian Joshua Tait said that "In its first and most direct meaning,
22984-475: The rise of the Tea Party movement and Mitt Romney 's 2012 presidential campaign , there were "cultural and economic shifts that created the conditions for a parallel shift in right-wing politics.", including changing demographics , the rise of the Internet and social media giving a significant platform to more extreme right-wing voices that were previously marginalized by "responsible conservative gatekeepers",
23153-540: The rise of the alt-right and provided an early sketch of its primary features: an Internet presence beset by digital trolls, unbridled conspiracism, angry-white-male-identity victimization culture, and, ultimately, open racism, antisemitism, ethnic hatred, misogyny, and sexual and gender paranoia". Gamergate politicized many young people, especially males, in opposition to the perceived culture war being waged by leftists. Through their shared opposition to political correctness, feminism, and multiculturalism, chan culture built
23322-597: The sake of their expediency." In Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right , Cynthia Miller-Idriss examines the far-right as a global movement and representing a cluster of overlapping " antidemocratic , antiegalitarian, white supremacist " beliefs that are "embedded in solutions like authoritarianism , ethnic cleansing or ethnic migration, and the establishment of separate ethno-states or enclaves along racial and ethnic lines". According to Jean-Yves Camus and Nicolas Lebourg ,
23491-419: The tendency among some of its political opponents to apply the term "alt-right" liberally to a broad range of right-wing groups and viewpoints. As the alt-right rose to wider awareness around 2016, media sources struggled to understand it; some commentators applied the term as a catch-all for anyone they deemed far-right. The scholars Patrik Hermansson, David Lawrence, Joe Mulhall, and Simon Murdoch noted that in
23660-403: The term "alt-right" is merely a rebranding of white supremacism. The term "alt-right" is an abbreviation of "alternative right". A distinct far-right movement arising in the 2010s, it both drew on older far-right ideas, and displayed novelties. Efforts to define the alt-right have been complicated by the contradictory ways in which self-described "alt-rightists" have defined the movement, and by
23829-601: The term "alternative right" for the lecture's title, although Gottfried maintained that they were its joint creators. As "alternative right" became associated increasingly with white nationalism in subsequent years, Gottfried distanced himself from it. After The American Conservative fired Spencer, in 2008 he became managing director of Taki Theodoracopulos 's right-wing website Taki's Magazine . The website initially contained contributions largely from paleoconservatives and right-libertarians, but under Spencer also gave space to white nationalists like Taylor. In 2009, Spencer used
23998-536: The term "alternative right" in the title of an article by white nationalist Kevin DeAnna . By 2010, Spencer had moved fully from paleoconservatism to white nationalism, although various later press sources instead called him a white supremacist. Leaving Taki's Magazine , in March 2010, Spencer launched The Alternative Right webzine . Early issues featured articles by white nationalists like Taylor and MacDonald as well as
24167-410: The term became popularised in U.S. public discourse, it again came to be used by many people who were not white nationalists but who saw it as a useful term to refer to rightists outside the mainstream conservative movement. Some have traced the recognition of the alt-lite—as a distinct entity from the alt-right—to what is seen as the consolidation of the alt-right as a white nationalist movement, while
24336-421: The term, and started calling themselves populists or civic nationalists . The term alternative right was coined by Paul Gottfried , but was later adopted by Richard B. Spencer who sought to use it to promote white nationalist ideas across the political right in the United States. However, there remained differing views on the term; some understood it as an umbrella term for a broad range of rightists outside
24505-459: The terms "right-wing extremism", " right-wing populism ", "national populism", or "neo-populism" were often used as synonyms by scholars (or, nonetheless, terms with "striking similarities"), except notably among a few authors studying the extremist-theoretical tradition. Italian philosopher and political scientist Norberto Bobbio argues that attitudes towards equality are primarily what distinguish left-wing politics from right-wing politics on
24674-424: The theoretical line they belong on. This ambiguity contributes to the alt-right pipeline , in which supporters of the alt-lite become acclimated to the alt-right. Historian Joshua Tait argued that the alt-lite "found the most mainstream success. These figures in the alt-lite entered the mainstream by alternating between courting and rejecting the more explicitly racist elements of the alt-right, massively expanding
24843-479: The time of Mr. Trump's first campaign." BBC journalist Mike Wendling termed it "an incredibly loose set of ideologies held together by what they oppose: feminism, Islam, the Black Lives Matter movement, political correctness , a fuzzy idea they call 'globalism,' and establishment politics of both the left and the right". PCMag defines the alt-right as "An ultra-conservative movement in the U.S. that
25012-485: The use of flash demonstrations, returning to Charlottesville with a much smaller group for an unannounced protest in October. Unite the Right exacerbated tensions between the alt-right and the alt-lite; Breitbart distanced itself from the alt-right, as did Yiannopoulos, who insisted he had "nothing in common" with Spencer. The alt-right significantly declined in 2017 and 2018. This happened for multiple reasons, including
25181-420: The website's official content but to its comments section—which is lightly moderated and contains more extreme views than those of Breitbart itself. Several political scientists rejected the characterization of Breitbart as alt-right, although press sources repeatedly described it as such, and the journalist Mike Wendling termed Breitbart "the chief popular media amplifier of alt-right ideas". In March 2016,
25350-502: The websites associated with the alt-right—like The Daily Stormer and the Traditionalist Youth Network—adopted neo-Nazi approaches, others, such as Occidental Dissent , The Unz Review , Vox Popoli , and Chateau Heartiste , adopted a less extreme form of white nationalism. In 2016, the alt-right gained popularity online through social media and forums . Far more widely visited than these alt-right websites
25519-460: The white race in the United States in addition to, or over, other traditional conservative positions such as limited government, low taxes and strict law-and-order. The movement has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism and populism ... criticizes 'multiculturalism' and more rights for non-whites, women, Jews, Muslims, gays, immigrants and other minorities. Its members reject the American democratic ideal that all should have equality under
25688-489: The winner... We're the establishment now". Alt-rightists were generally supportive of Trump's decision to appoint Bannon his chief strategist, and Jeff Sessions his attorney general . While aware that Trump would not pursue a white nationalist agenda, the alt-right hoped to pull him further to the right, taking hardline positions that made him look more moderate, and thus shifting mainstream discourse rightward. Wendling suggested that Trump's election signaled "the beginning of
25857-726: The words of Fritz Stern , the deep "cultural despair" of thinkers feeling uprooted within the rationalism and scientism of the modern world. It was characterized by a rejection of the established social order, with revolutionary tendencies and anti-capitalist stances, a populist and plebiscitary dimension, the advocacy of violence as a means of action and a call for individual and collective palingenesis ("regeneration, rebirth"). The key thinkers of contemporary far-right politics are claimed by Mark Sedgwick to share four key elements, namely apocalyptism , fear of global elites , belief in Carl Schmitt 's friend–enemy distinction and
26026-531: The world" should be interpreted "as a politics of fear, which utilizes the disaffection and anger generated by capitalism. [...] Partisans of far right-wing organizations, in turn, use anti-communism to challenge every political current which is not embedded in a clearly exposed nationalist and racist agenda. For them, both the USSR and the European Union, leftist liberals, ecologists, and supranational corporations – all of these may be called 'communist' for
26195-639: The writers Allum Bokhari and Yiannopoulos published an article in Breitbart discussing the alt-right. They downplayed its most extreme elements and championed its counter-cultural value. Bokhari and Yiannopoulos' piece was subsequently widely cited in the mainstream press, with Hawley describing it as "the most sympathetic portrayal of the movement to appear in a major media venue to date". Many alt-rightists responded negatively to Bokhari and Yiannopoulos' article; The Daily Stormer referred to it as "the Product of
26364-432: Was Breitbart News , which between 2016 and 2018 received over 10 million unique visitors a month. Launched by the conservative Andrew Breitbart in 2005, it came under the control of Steve Bannon in 2012. A right-wing nationalist and populist, Bannon was hostile to mainstream conservatism. Although much of Breitbart 's coverage fed into racially charged narratives, it did not promote white nationalism, differing from
26533-625: Was "really proud" of the president for those comments. Amid criticism of his comments, Trump added his view that "racism is evil" and that "those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs". Various alt-rightists who attended the rally experienced personal and legal repercussions for their involvement; one attendee, the U.S. Marine Vasillios Pistolis, was for instance court-martialled. Internet service providers and social media websites subsequently terminated many alt-right accounts and sites. Prominent figures like Spencer became reticent about organizing further public protests. He experimented with
26702-477: Was arrested for the battery of his wife and father-in-law, resulting in the dissolution of his Traditionalist Workers Party, while Anglin went into hiding to avoid a harassment lawsuit, and Spencer canceled his speaking tour. Writing for The Guardian , Jason Wilson stated that "the alt-right looks like it is crumbling". Tait stated that after the Unite the Right rally, "it was clear that the alt-right brand had been oversaturated, diluted, and damaged.", but added that
26871-535: Was attended by several notable American white supremacists including Jared Taylor and Brandon Russell . Morocco saw a spread of ultranationalism , antifeminism , and opposition to immigration themes in digital spaces. A number of far-right extremist and paramilitary groups carried out the Rwandan genocide under the racial supremacist ideology of Hutu Power , developed by journalist and Hutu supremacist Hassan Ngeze . On 5 July 1975, exactly two years after
27040-681: Was based on the belief that hierarchy and rootedness are more important than equality and liberty, with the latter two being dehumanizing. In the French public debate following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, far right was used to describe the strongest opponents of the far left , those who supported the events occurring in Russia. A number of thinkers on the far right nonetheless claimed an influence from an anti-Marxist and anti-egalitarian interpretation of socialism , based on
27209-428: Was coined by white nationalists as a pejorative , in an attempt to exclude more moderate figures from the alt-right. The term alt-right had previously included "anyone that fell on the right of the political spectrum but had major problems with the conservative movement", including populists and libertarians . After the term alt-right was successfully reclaimed by white nationalists, previous adherents abandoned
27378-424: Was expressing ambivalence about the "alternative right" label; he preferred to be called an "identitarian". On the Internet, Spencer's term "alternative right" was adopted and abbreviated to "alt-right". According to Slate magazine, the abbreviation "retains the former phrase's associations—the mix of alienation and optimism embedded in the act of proudly affirming an 'alternative' direction—but compacts them into
27547-403: Was frequently targeted by the dissident right, led by Nick Fuentes , who consider some groups to be not sufficiently conservative on issues of race and ethnicity, immigration, and LGBTQ rights. According to Tait, "Leading figures associated with the alt-right have disappeared into obscurity, self-immolated, and reinvented themselves as centrists. Meanwhile, the ideology's ideas have diffused across
27716-455: Was fully established before the outbreak of World War II . Following World War II, other far-right organizations attempted to establish themselves, such as the European organizations of Nouvel Ordre Européen , European Social Movement and Circulo Español de Amigos de Europa or the further-reaching World Union of National Socialists and the League for Pan-Nordic Friendship . Beginning in
27885-567: Was going back on his promise of a more non-interventionist foreign policy in the Middle East. Hawley noted that the alt-right's influence on the Trump administration was "negligible". However, press sources alleged that several appointments within the Trump administration were linked to the alt-right, including Senior Advisor to the President Stephen Miller , National Security Advisor Michael Flynn , Deputy Assistant to
28054-445: Was not white nationalist, deeming the latter insufficiently elitist. According to Dean, in the 1990s, there were "alt-right" Usenet groups that consisted of fringe libertarians, anarcho-capitalists , and fans of American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand , who advocated for the abolition of the state in favor of private property and markets. According to Winter, during the 1990s and early 2000s, "the American far-right did not harness
28223-819: Was posted on /pol/ over 5,500 times between 2017 and 2022. Far-right politics Far-right politics , often termed right-wing extremism , encompasses a range of ideologies that are typically marked by radical conservatism , authoritarianism , ultra-nationalism , and nativism . This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the right, distinguished from more mainstream right-wing ideologies by its opposition to liberal democratic norms and emphasis on exclusivist views. Far-right ideologies have historically included fascism , Nazism , and Falangism , while contemporary manifestations also incorporate neo-fascism , neo-Nazism , white supremacism , and various other movements characterized by chauvinism , xenophobia , and theocratic or reactionary beliefs. Key to
28392-496: Was their champion. In August 2016, Trump appointed Bannon to lead his election campaign. This was swiftly condemned in a Reno, Nevada speech given by the Democratic Party's nominee for the presidency, Hillary Clinton . She highlighted Bannon's claim that Breitbart was "the platform for the alt-right", describing the movement as "an emerging racist ideology" and warning that "a fringe element has effectively taken over
28561-649: Was widened to mean any civilian bands killing Tutsi. Other far-right groups and paramilitaries involved included the anti-democratic segregationist Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), which called for complete segregation of Hutus from Tutsis. The CDR had a paramilitary wing known as the Impuzamugambi . Together with the Interahamwe militia, the Impuzamugambi played a central role in
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