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Far-right politics

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Far right, extreme right, ultra-right, radical right, or hard right are terms used to discuss the relative position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum. The terms "far-right" and "far-left" are used to say that someone is an extremist. "Far-right" is thus usually a pejorative term used by outsiders rather than a self-label.

The division between far-left and far-right extremists can be as difficult to discern as the views of those labeled "far right" are to reconcile with one another. The Nazi party, while often viewed as far-right, is considered Keynesian economically, quite distinct from the laissez faire economics, isolationism and localism advocated by paleoconservatives, also labeled as far right.

To further complicate matters, the rhetoric and positions advocated by many extremists (populism, revolution, social unrest, violence) often appear very similar, and sometimes members and leaders travel between the far-left and far right. Mussolini is one example of such a circumstance, and Bill White (neo-Nazi) is another. National Bolshevism, the international third position and national anarchism are each extremist groups which while often regarded as far right, transcend the boundries of ordinary politics. Ecofascism, eugenics, full employment, and other seemingly leftist concepts are often found amongst those seen to be far right.

The far right has often been associated with social and religious conservatism, reactionary nationalism, jingoistic chauvanism and economic protectionism, but this varies wildly.

Usage

A simple, if vague, definition of "far-right" is someone deemed too right-wing to be accepted in the nation's mainstream Political Parties on the Right. "Far-right" ideologies and movements often advocate substantial intervention, typically government intervention, in society in order to protect or promote inequalities or privileges, especially those inequalities or privileges that are viewed as "traditional". It is often associated with extreme nationalism. This is in contrast to the left-wing, who advocate intervention in favor of "equality" and give little or no authority to "tradition". Both stand in contrast also to less interventionist positions such as conservatism, liberalism, and libertarianism, each of which gives varying weights to the value of tradition and equality.

The terms "left" and "right" used in this way arose during the French Revolution. The original meaning of "far-right" was the "throne-and-altar" conservatives, like Joseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald, who rejected democracy, liberalism and individualism, and were in favour of an authoritarian monarchical government. They further proclaimed the submission of the individual to the so-called "natural associations" (families, regions, professions, nations, etc.). For them, we should obey our superiors in Earth (the father in family, the King in the state, the Pope in the Church) because their authority is the mirror of the authority of God in the Universe.

Naturally, in societies that differ significantly from Ancien Régime France, the term takes on somewhat different meaning. The original French meaning is specific to a Roman Catholic nation, and more specifically to a Gallican society in which church and state were closely tied to one another. It can be expanded to include the kind of Caesaropapism that occasionally existed in some Orthodox kingdoms, but is poorly equipped to deal with the idea there even can be a far-right outside the Catholic/Orthodox world. This interpretation of "far right" especially lost favor in the decades following the Revolutions of 1848 as a return to the Ancien Régime became increasinly implausible. By the reign of Pope Pius XI this interpretation of far-right had essentially become anachronistic even in conservative Catholic circles. Therefore this original meaning is somewhat rare in a modern context. See Traditionalist School, Ultramontanism, and Reactionary for more on this ideological stream.

In the modern world, the term far-right is applied to those who believe society must have an upper class (though not necessarily aristocratic) domination, an established church, and an authoritarian state. This authoritarian state can be an absolute monarchy, but more often today it is some form of oligarchy or military dictatorship. This is most true in regions and nations that have no real history of monarchy, such as Central America (discounting the Pre-Columbian era), Switzerland, and the United States. The term "far-right" also embraces extreme nationalism, and will often evoke the ideal of a "pure" ideal of the nation, often defined on racial or "blood" grounds. They may advocate the expansion or restructuring of existing state borders to achieve this ideal nation, often to the point of embracing expansionary war, racialism, jingoism and imperialism.

In the English-speaking nations this is often a nationalism descended from the militant aspects of British New Imperialism. Hence the Far Right often embraces state churches, harshly retributive justice, and militarism. More generally, the term "far-right" has been applied to any stream of political thought that rejects democracy in favour of some form of elite rule (including monarchy, plutocracy, and theocracy).

Fascism is generally, but not universally, classified as a far-right ideology. Libertarian scholars such as F. A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises are noteworthy dissenters from that view; Hayek even considered it far-left (see Fascism and ideology). However, even strong Miseans like Murray Rothbard put fascism on the right.

A further complication is found in Nazism and other "national-revolutionary" ideologies, such as those of the "Left Nazi" or "Third Position" Strasser brothers, Juan Peron in Argentina, Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, the Baath in Syria and Iraq and groups like International Third Position or the "national-anarchism". On one hand, these movements are nationalist and anti-communist; but, unlike fascism, they mobilize essentially the lower and middle-classes and, when in power, have often nationalized property, especially property owned by foreigners or by members of ethnicities not defined by them as part of their "nation".

Furthermore, the term "far-right" has also been used for certain populist or authoritarian regimes, especially for "free market dictatorships". The epitome of such regimes was that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, but it can be seen (with less market freedom) in many other 20th-century Latin American military dictatorships.

In some contexts—particularly in the United States—the term "far-right" may also be used to denote supporters of extreme conservatism, such as paleoconservatives and other isolationists. While it is occasionally applied to the supporters of extreme laissez-faire capitalism such as some libertarians, calling the libertarians "far-right" or even "right" is a matter of controversy. The libertarians consider themselves as the heirs of the classical liberals, the main enemies of the first far-right. In his essay "Left and Right: the Prospects for Liberty" [1] and "Confessions of a Right-Wing Liberal" [2], Murray Rothbard even put libertarianism on the "left", claiming that conservatives are the right and socialists merely "middle-of-the road".

The imprecise use of the terms "left" and "right" in politics, and there being no absolute consensus as to what the "archetypes" of left and right are, has led to a number of disputes over the proper usage of "far-right" and "far-left" other than as general terms of derision. "Far-right" and "far-left" are meant to describe two diametrically opposed extremes. However, there are a good number of arguably extremist groups and ideologies that don't fit in the traditional far-left and far-right categories, and some seem to fit in both.

There have been many attempts to describe this landscape with a multi-dimensional, rather than a linear, political spectrum; one such approach is the political compass.

Much confusion is caused by wildly varying usage of these terms throughout history and the political spheres.

Current political parties referred to as far right

The list below includes a range of political parties, some of which have also been decribed as extreme right or even neo-fascist:

References

Betz, Hans-Georg and Stefan Immerfall, eds. 1998. The New Politics of the Right: Neo-Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Betz, Hans-Georg. 1994. Radical Right-wing Populism in Western Europe, New York: St. Martins Press,.

Durham, Martin. 2000. The Christian Right, the Far Right and the Boundaries of American Conservatism. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.

Durham, Martin. 2002. "From Imperium to Internet: the National Alliance and the American Extreme Right" Patterns of Prejudice 36(3), (July): 50-61.

Hainsworth, Paul, ed. 2000. The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream. London: Pinter.

Mudde, Cas. 2000. The Ideology of the Extreme Right. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press.

See also

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