It’s become clear that racism isn’t a side effect of far-right ideology, it is a foundational quality of radical right parties in the US and Europe. Is racism a necessary component of the radical right’s appeal? When I was conducting my research on the radical right in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I tried… Continue reading “Racism Is A Core Component Of The Radical Right”
Tom Watson promoted himself as a leading voice of Southern white supremacy, nostalgically evoking images of the “Old South” that drew legitimacy from its grounding in a combination of Jeffersonian political theory and cultural agrarianism. In 2012, I had the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Georgia, the most southern of the original colonial states.… Continue reading “A Populist’s Path: From Advocate of the People to Inspiration for the KKK”
While Donald Trump’s brand of white nationalism endures, we must deepen our understanding of the group behavior, mentality, and tactics of right-wing extremists. The United States of America has recently experienced concentrations of right-wing violent extremism particularly with an increase in violent radical right street groups. The US’ expanding catalog of radical right groups emphasizes… Continue reading “The Rise Of Radical Right Extremism In Trump’s America”
Since becoming US President in January 2017 Donald Trump has achieved considerable notoriety because of his propensity for lying. Trump, of course, is hardly the first public official in the United States or elsewhere to achieve this type of unflattering reputation. Making statements those uttering them know to be false is a common feature of… Continue reading “The Measurement of Lies”
What should we make of a substantial Jewish presence in Trump’s right-wing administration? One of the apparent curiosities of the Trump presidency is the significant role played by American Jews in his administration and his personal circle of friends, confidants and ex-confidants. To illustrate: The president’s daughter, Ivanka, is married to Jared Kushner, an Orthodox… Continue reading “Donald Trump: The Odd Link between American Jews and the Alt-Right”
In the world of political extremism, we often make assumptions about the relationship between extreme ideology and political violence. We assume that extremist views lead to violence, and that those who commit political violence are on the farthest ends of the political spectrum. However, there is strikingly little research that empirically supports this relationship. Of… Continue reading “The Role of Ideology in Radical Right Violence: Lessons from America”
The false anxiety that whiteness is under siege fueled the rise of Trump, but it isn’t new. You can trace white supremacist culture throughout American history. In the context of contemporary politics in America and the rise of the radical right, whiteness feels like it is having its moment in the sun. The election of… Continue reading “From The Plantation To The Caravan: America’s History Of White Nationalism”
At a political rally on October 22 for the upcoming midterm elections, US President Donald Trump declared himself a “nationalist.” Trump’s nationalism operates through notions of an “authentic,” rooted and morally good nation that is re-enforced in relation to migrants and minorities. Such exclusionary nationalism, also referred to as nativism, is an ideology or discursive… Continue reading “Donald Trump Declares Himself a “Nationalist””
Richard Wilson Preston Jr. is not a nice guy. When the imperial wizard of the Confederate White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan came to the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a year ago, he was spoiling for a fight. “I will go out and shoot you,” he fumes in one video. “I’m… Continue reading “The Curious Case of Daryl Davis, the Black Man Befriending Members of the KKK”
As media platforms evolve and mature, they give birth to new expressive forms shaped by the exigencies of their technological and political-economic regimes. The dramatic and affective flows of American television, for example, emerged in the twentieth century to suit an advertising-based profit model, which is itself the outcome of complex regulatory and commercial origins.… Continue reading “Analyzing YouTube “Rekt” Videos as a Vector for Radicalization”