The following text is based on a presentation made at the 31st Antinazizone-YRE camp, on Saturday, July 27, 2024. It deals with some parts of the new agenda of the Far-Right, as issues related to the environment, women’s rights, and LGBTQ people were addressed by other co-speakers.
The Far-Right is on the rise globally. It is the only political current that shows any momentum.
To give a few examples: in the recent European elections, the seats won by the main far-right parties totaled 165, which is more than 22% of the total. If the far-right managed to unite in one European group, it would be the second largest, just below the European People’s Party.
In France, Le Pen‘s National Rally came first in votes, both in the European elections and in the subsequent snap parliamentary elections (although in the latter, it finished third in seats). In the U.S., Trump was re-elected. In countries like Portugal, far-right parties start from scratch and manage to contend for power within a few years.
From the Darkest Pages of History…
But what propaganda does the Far-Right use to achieve such results?
Let’s look at some examples of how they poison public discourse with ideologies drawn from the darkest pages of history. In the (still) most powerful country on the planet, during the debate between the (then) presidential candidates, Trump made immigration his top campaign talking point.
In the debate with Biden, Trump said
“…he allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy our country”
“They’re living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places.”
“we are living right now in a rat’s nest”
“We have a border that’s the most dangerous place anywhere in the world”
In the campaign trail he went even further
“Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.”
Trump’s language directly echoes the rhetoric used by the Nazis before World War II: Continuous and blatant lies that make the listener or reader question reality, dehumanization of immigrants, comparing them to animals so that they are not considered people with rights, and labeling them as “external enemies” to justify extreme measures against them. Eugenics comes and blends naturally into the mix.
And all of this while the U.S. Department of Justice’s own Institute reports that legal and illegal immigrants are less likely to engage in criminal behavior than natives!
In France, Marine Le Pen has made it her banner to abolish the right to citizenship for those born in France (the “right of the soil,” as it is called). Instead, she wants citizenship to depend solely on “blood,” meaning whether someone has at least one parent who is French. This brings the debate back to the times of kings when rights were determined by who had the correct kind of blood.
The second point of focus in Le Pen‘s campaign was promoting the idea of “French preference,” meaning that the French should have priority in all public services/benefits over immigrants. Here, the attempt is to legitimize an official Apartheid-like regime, where second-class citizens will have rights only if any are left over.
…To the New Masks of the Far-Right
A part of Far-Right propaganda is as old as the oppressive social formations that produced racism. However, there are also new trends in Far-Right propaganda, adapted to the needs of our time. Let’s examine a few.
Recently, parts of the Far-Right have adopted an “anti-colonial” rhetoric. They claim that Europe and America are facing a “colonial” attack, part of an “asymmetric war.” According to this propaganda, a nebulous “new order” is sending migrants from developing countries to the West with the goal of “eroding” and eventually “conquering” them from within.
French far-right thinker Renaud Camus formulated the “Great Replacement” theory, which argues that there is a plan to replace the population of the West with darker-skinned people of different religions. We won’t go into a detailed deconstruction of the conspiracy-type arguments of this “theory,” but it’s important to note that the Far-Right makes no mention of the real reasons that drive people to migrate (wars, dictatorships, imperialist exploitation of economies). Instead, they portray the victims of imperialist policies as perpetrators.
In this way, there is an attempt to appropriate the progressive roots of the anti-colonial movement. Camus uses terms associated with the Nazi occupation of France. Thus, migrants are called “occupiers,” governments that supposedly help them are labeled “collaborators,” and what is happening is characterized as “genocide,” alluding to the Holocaust.
Camus goes as far as to say that all texts related to Algeria’s anti-colonial struggle against French occupation are applicable to present-day France. He claims that the “natives” of Europe need their own FLN (National Liberation Front). Through this, he tries to present his repugnant ideas as “radical” and to attract a segment of the youth looking for dynamic solutions to their problems.
Balancing Acts
Similar balancing acts are performed by Alain de Benoist, another influential figure of the French Far-Right. De Benoist was once a fervent supporter of the OAS (Organisation Armée Secrète—a paramilitary far-right group that supported France’s “right” to hold onto Algeria). Now, he has made a seeming turn and formulated the theory of “ethnopluralism.” This is a racist theory that essentially claims that, sure, all cultures have something to offer, but each one should stay in its own place. The Far-Right thus presents itself as defenders of the “diversity” of each people, while portraying themselves as enemies of American imperialism, which supposedly wants to flatten everything and destroy “national identities.”
Here again, we see a shift in rhetoric that attempts to hide the same racist essence. Naturally, de Benoist says nothing about the economic relationships in the model he proposes—e.g., will French multinationals continue to exploit Africa? He also says nothing about why a people cannot maintain the traditions they want while simultaneously being in contact with other cultures, assimilating elements that could help them move forward. But that’s exactly the point this theory tries to conceal—that imperialist relationships are based on economic dependence. There cannot be “equality” among nations as long as multinationals exploit developing countries, and as long as there is economic exploitation, it will be accompanied by the relevant cultural imperialism of the powerful.
Beyond exposing the pretextual nature of these new Far-Right theories, we must note that they fit perfectly with the current phase of French (and more generally Western) imperialism. When Western imperialism was in its expansionist phase, it needed an aggressive theory to justify “civilizing” the “barbarians.” Thus, the Far-Right openly propagated theories of “racial superiority,” the inferiority of Black people, and other similar ideas. However, now that the West is in a phase of relative decline, as new capitalist powers are rising dynamically, it needs a theory to “protect” its gains.
These new theories, in addition to trying to win over a new audience for the Far-Right, primarily aim to offer a new narrative to the declining bourgeoisie, to justify protectionist policies aimed at maintaining their dominance for as long as possible.
Imperialism by Land and by Sea
It is interesting to examine the propaganda of the Far-Right in other countries as well. In Russia, Alexander Dugin, an academic closely associated with Putin, formulated the “Fourth Political Theory” (following liberalism, communism, and fascism). Essentially, Dugin attempts to provide a theoretical basis for Russia’s confrontation with the U.S.
A clear example of these views can be seen in official Russian propaganda. In various statements from the Russian government, we read:
“To build a multipolar world, Russia will focus on eliminating the U.S. dominance in world affairs and create conditions to counter any neo-colonial and hegemonic ambitions.”
“The era of colonial rule is long over.”
“The history of the West is essentially a chronicle of endless expansion.”
According to Dugin, there is a distinction between imperialism (which is a good and acceptable practice for “exceptional” nations) and colonialism (which is condemned). This perception draws on the theories of German philosopher Carl Schmitt, who was a Nazi theorist. Schmitt argued that imperial expansion by land has a material and real basis and is thus acceptable, as it involves “similar” cultures, where one naturally dominates the other. However, expansion by sea is colonial because there is no cultural relationship between the colonialist and the colonised. Consequently, the expansion of Britain and the U.S., which acquired territories around the world via their naval power, is condemned as colonial. Yet, the expansion of powers into neighboring geographic regions (like the Tsarist Empire over the peoples of Asia or Germany in its surrounding areas) is seen as natural and healthy. Predictably, within this framework, Jews are also condemned, as Jewish capital based its economic development on international trade.
Here, an attempt is made to separate a mythical industrial-productive capital (deemed good) from a commercial-financial capital (deemed parasitic). Naturally, all of this is another set of balancing acts. Capital and the system of production are more interconnected than ever. Banks and financial capital fund industry, and the products of industry are sold by commercial capital.
Once again, we see the Far-Right attempting to dress up the interests of a portion of the elites in “radical” clothes in order to provide them with a political narrative behind which they can try to rally a part of the population.
In a recent article, Dugin writes:
“we may witness a partial return to the global order that prevailed before Christopher Columbus, where various empires coexisted alongside Western Europe.
These empires included the Chinese, Indian, Russian, Ottoman, and Persian, along with robust independent states in South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and even Oceania. Each of these entities had its distinct political and social systems, which Europeans later equated with barbarism and savagery.
Consequently, multipolarism is entirely plausible, which was the case for humanity before the emergence of Western global imperial politics in the modern era.”
It is thus clear that the vision of the Far-Right has nothing progressive about it. It promotes a return to the era of empires, where each emperor did as they pleased with their people.
Far-Right Propaganda, Old and New, Cannot Be Underestimated
Whether as old as slavery or “new,” the propaganda of the far-right cannot be underestimated. We need to fight against all forms of the far-right, from the internet to the streets.
A leading figure of the far-right internationally is Steve Bannon. Bannon even tried to create a “far-right international.” Of course, he is currently in prison for pocketing the money he raised from American far-right supporters, supposedly to fund the construction of the wall on the southern border of the U.S.
After Trump‘s 2016 victory (of whom he was an advisor), Bannon stated:
“We got elected on Drain the Swamp [fight corruption], Lock Her Up [jail Hillary Clinton], Build a Wall [on the border with Mexico]… This was pure anger. Anger and fear is what gets people to the polls.
The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
Therefore, it is our duty to flood our neighborhoods with the ideas and practices of solidarity, with the struggle against racism and fascism, and the fight for a society free from the exploitation of man by man. A society where racist shit will be where it deserves: in the cesspool of history.
