Far right, extreme right, ultra-right or radical right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within a political spectrum. The terms far right and far left are often used to imply that someone is an extremist. The terms are used by many political commentators to discuss political groups, movements, and political parties that are difficult to classify within conventional right-wing politics.[1]
The political terms left and right arose during the French Revolution, the term far right originally referred to throne-and-altarmonarchists such as Joseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald. The original French meaning of far right 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. In this context, the term can be expanded to include the kind of Caesaropapism that occasionally existed in some Eastern Orthodox kingdoms. This specific interpretation of the term far right lost favour in the decades following the Revolutions of 1848, as a return to the Ancien Régime became increasingly implausible. By the reign of Pope Pius XI, this interpretation of far right had essentially become anachronistic even in conservative Catholic circles.
Usage
The term far right has been used by different scholars in conflicting ways.[2] The term far right is mostly used to to describe fascism, Nazism and other ultra-nationalist and reactionary ideologies and movements.[3][4][5][6]
The BBC has called politician Pim Fortuyn's politics (Fortuynism) far right because of his policies on immigration and Muslims.[7] The term far right has been used by some, such as National Public Radio, to describe certain authoritarian governments that promote free market capitalism, such as that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.[8][9] Left-wing publication New Left Review has called Ronald Reagan's policies "radical right".[10] The term radical right has also been used to refer to "a libertarian movement which places the individual squarely in the center" and has "even attacked such sacred taboos as taxation".[11]
Parties and movements alleged to be far right or extreme right
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 (2000). The Politics of the Extreme Right: From the Margins to the Mainstream. London: Pinter.
Schoenbaum, David. Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany,. ISBN
Radical conservatism : the right's political religion / Robert Brent Toplin., 2006
Radical conservatism and the future of politics / Göran Dahl., 1999
Fascists and conservatives : the radical right and the establishment in twentieth-century Europe / Martin Blinkhorn., 1990
The Routledge companion to fascism and the far right / Peter Davies., 2002
The terrorist next door : the militia movement and the radical right / Daniel Levitas., 2002
Right-wing populism in America : too close for comfort / Chip Berlet & Matthew N. Lyons, 2000
The extreme right : freedom and security at risk / Aurel Braun., 1997
The impact of radical right-wing parties in West European democracies / Michelle Hale Williams., 2006
Right-wing extremism in the twenty-first century / Peter Merkl., 2003
Extreme right parties in Western Europe / Piero Ignazi., 2003
The United States and right-wing dictatorships, 1965-1989 / David Schmitz., 2006
The emergence of a Euro-American radical right / Jeffrey Kaplan., 1998
The politics of the extreme right : from the margins to the mainstream / Paul Hainsworth., 2000
The revival of right-wing extremism in the nineties / Peter Merkl., 1997
Shadows over Europe : the development and impact of the extreme right in Western Europe / Martin Schain., 2002
Western democracies and the new extreme right challenge / Roger Eatwell., 2004
The voice of modern hatred : encounters with Europe's new right / Nicholas Fraser., 2000
Extreme right activists in Europe : through the magnifying glass / Bert Klandermans., 2006
Preachers of hate : the rise of the far right / Angus Roxburgh., 2002
Movements of exclusion : radical right-wing populism in the Western world / Jens Rydgren., 2005
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