Alt Right

The Alt Right (short for “alternative right”) is a loosely organized far right movement that emphasizes internet activism (especially memes) and is hostile to both multicultural liberalism and mainstream conservatism. Alt-right ideology combines white nationalism, misogyny, antisemitism, and authoritarianism in various forms and in political styles ranging from intellectual argument to violent invective.

“America First Is Inevitable”

Nick Fuentes, the Groyper Army, and the Mainstreaming of White Nationalism

A man holding an "America First" flag, wearing a red MAGA hat, and a black face mask in a crowd of other right-wingers.

On November 19, 2016, days after Donald Trump’s startling election victory, White nationalist Richard Spencer stood in an event space near the White House, feeling the wind of history in his sails. Addressing the approximately 200 attendees of his…

“All You Have to Do Is Show Up”

How White Nationalists Are Infiltrating the GOP

People carrying Identity Evropa flags march in Charlottesville, August 16, 2017

In recent years, the most adept attempts at entryism have come from those trying to embed in the Republican Party a far-right ideology that calls for a rebirth of a nation’s mythic past in order to create a populist movement founded on…

The Proud Boys

A Republican Party Street Gang

The Proud Boys became a national focus in October 2018 when independent journalist Sandi Bachom posted video of a violent confrontation in New York City.

What’s the Matter with Secularism?

How New Atheism Feeds the Right

Image of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett

Over the last few years, incidents like these have created a deep rift that’s split the atheist community. At the root of these battles is a question of identity: should the atheist movement strive to be part of a progressive coalition and uphold a…

The U.S. Far Right’s 2018 Election Results

A Blind-Alley for the Alt Right

A large number of candidates with ties to the Far Right ran for office in the 2018 midterm elections, mostly as Republicans. They ranged from neonazis to mainstream Republicans who courted the Far Right for support.

Alt Right and Far Right Mobilization in 2018

A Timeline

London protest in respond to President Trump’s visit, July 2018

There is no reason to expect the Alt Right, Alt Lite, and associated Far Right groups to disappear in 2019. It was Trump that energized the movement, and it will remained tied to his presidency.

Ancient Greece and Rome are an origin point of sorts for the Alt Right: an imagined golden age of White supremacist patriarchy they can idealize and aspire to recreate.

When the news broke on November 2, that a male shooter had killed two women at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, Florida, George Sodini immediately came to my mind.

Before the Alt Right

Anita Hill and the Growth of Misogynist Ideology

Anita Hill testifies before Congress, during Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings for Supreme Court, October 11, 1991.

Today, #MeToo, a Twitter hashtag now synonymous with the campaign to call attention to the widespread problem of sexual harassment and often name perpetrators, picks up on Hill’s legacy in bringing this issue into the national spotlight.

White Nationalism on the March

One Year After Charlottesville

Introduction The “Unite the Right” rally was designed, over months, to be the largest gathering of its kind in at least a decade, and was successful in bringing together disparate elements of the Far Right on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, VA.…

War on the Ivory Tower

Alt Right Attacks on University Professors

Thompson Library at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

In an effort to silence academics, right-wing activists, including many from the Alt Right, have doxed, threatened, and smeared professors across the country, without regard for academic hierarchy, type of institution, or discipline. They have…

Steve Bannon speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr.

Stephen K. Bannon was the Executive Chairman of the Far Right media website Breitbart from March 2012 to August 2016, and from August 2017 to January 9, 2018. Between the two periods he took a leave of absence to be Donald Trump’s campaign adviser…

Memorial for Heather Heyer in downtown Charlottesville. Photo: Courtesy of Bob Mical via Flickr.

In the United States, 2017 was a banner year for fascist and related far right activism. There were arguably the highest levels of public demonstrations by the Right since the last wave of Klan and neonazi activity in the 1980s and ‘90s. A main…

Three Pillars of the Alt Right

White Nationalism, Antisemitism, and Misogyny

The new wave of avowed White nationalists who have been energized by Donald Trump—most prominently the Alt Right—have held demonstrations across the United States, most famously in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. Progressive activists have…

Rumors of Civil War

How Anti-Communist Conspiracies Imagine an Antifa Civil War on November 4

A conspiracy theory has spread like wildfire through the Far Right claiming that on November 4, “antifa” will start a civil war and attempt to overthrow Donald Trump. The date is supposed to precede the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution,…

Disunite the Right

The Growing Divides in the Pepe Coalition

The relationship between the Alt Right and the Alt Light, as well as “patriot” organizations like the Oath Keepers, has often been more pragmatic than comfortable. And maintaining this coalition has not been easy, requiring compromises on language…

Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer

The Westboro Baptist Church of the Alt Right

Joey Gibson is a Far Right activist who, since March 2017, has made a name for himself by organizing confrontational rallies in liberal enclaves on the West Coast that have frequently descended into violence. Based in Vancouver, Washington (located…

Press Release: From the Streets of Charlottesville to the Corridors of the Capitol, White Nationalism is On the March

Contact: Greeley O’Connor, g.oconnor@politicalresearch.org, 617.666.5300 (BOSTON) The U.S. Far Right has killed nearly 450 people since 1990. Heather Heyer of Charlottesville, Virginia is the…

A Guide to Who’s Coming to the Largest White Nationalist Rally in a Decade

The Unite the Right rally, which will take place in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, looks like it will be the largest White Nationalist rally in the United States in more than a decade. Between 500 and 1,000 people are expected to…

An Alt Right Update

My January report, “Ctrl-Alt-Delete,” was published at the beginning of Donald Trump’s administration. It dealt with the Alt Right’s ideological roots, major players, multiple internal currents, and complex relationships with both conservatives and…

“Become part of the fraternity”: Screenshot from the Identity Evropa website.

The media often portrays clean-cut individuals such as Alt Right leader Richard Spencer or members of Identity Evropa as proof of a re-branding of White nationalism and indeed, there is a long history of White supremacist groups re-inventing their…

#First100Days Crash Course: Week 11

Reproductive Justice

The more recent trend in anti-reproductive justice attacks is a state-by-state approach designed to gradually chip away at existing rights. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in the 40+ years since Roe v. Wade, states have enacted over 1,000…

The most influential aspect of the rise of the Internet in the 1990s was the liberation of information from the constraints of the mainstream media—something expected to further democratize the globalized economy. After all, the more information…

Effectively fighting mobilizations like those emboldened by Trump’s election requires accurately understanding their composition—one in which misogyny thrives alongside, and intertwined with, racism.

Profile on the Right: Milo Yiannopoulos

Milo Yiannopoulos is the technology co-editor for Breitbart News Network, the right-wing media operation that former CEO Steve Bannon—now chief strategist for President Donald Trump—proudly called the platform for the Alt Right. But that title does…

Matthew Lyons’s “Ctrl-Alt-Delete,” is a thorough survey of the origins of the alt-right, a look at its constituent parts and beliefs at the present time, as well as observations about how its future relationship with the Trump administration may…

Richard Spencer’s Mom Spins Victim Narrative for Self, While Neonazis Target Jews

Before Richard Spencer came to town in 2011, the tourist destination of Whitefish, Montana, was known mostly to well-heeled aficionados of the sporting life for its splendid vistas and ski slopes. Now it’s making news as a battleground in the fight…

“America First Is Inevitable”

“All You Have to Do Is Show Up”

The Proud Boys

What’s the Matter with Secularism?

The U.S. Far Right’s 2018 Election Results

Alt Right and Far Right Mobilization in 2018

A Classicist’s Guide to Misappropriated History

Shooting in Tallahassee Illustrates Increasing Misogynist Violence

Before the Alt Right

White Nationalism on the March

War on the Ivory Tower

Steve Bannon’s “Washed Out” Antisemitism

The Big Picture: Far Right Mobilization in 2017

Three Pillars of the Alt Right

Rumors of Civil War

Disunite the Right

Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer

Press Release: From the Streets of Charlottesville to the Corridors of the Capitol, White Nationalism is On the March

A Guide to Who’s Coming to the Largest White Nationalist Rally in a Decade

An Alt Right Update

Identity Evropa and the Fraternity of White Supremacy

#First100Days Crash Course: Week 11

Birth of the Alt Right

Mobilizing Misogyny

Profile on the Right: Milo Yiannopoulos

Ctrl-Alt-Delete: The origins and ideology of the Alternative Right

Richard Spencer’s Mom Spins Victim Narrative for Self, While Neonazis Target Jews

Research

Search

Alt Right

Research