The Transnationalism of the Nationalist New Right: The Spread to Latin America
Background
Today, the far right has risen to prominence, shaping policies both domestically and internationally and impacting the lives of many. Although the movement’s popularity has appeared abrupt, the wave of extremist political conservatism the world has witnessed is a product of a long history of intellectual and philosophical conversations across borders in Europe and the United States. The new right movement dates back to the 1960s in France, when militant figures such as Alain de Benoist responded to cultural shifts and economic crises arising from industrialization and globalization.
Despite the movement in France officially cementing and reinvigorating the right into something more formal, these conversations and intellectual development had been happening throughout Europe. Common strands in the new right’s ideology included European nihilism, populism, anti-elite sentiments, distaste for the managerial state, nationalism, and the privileging of what they termed “organic” cultural groups. Despite disliking the way globalization changed society, the movement still favored modernization. They just wanted the changes it brought to align with an essentialized conception of the interests, values, and morals of their local cultures.
Latin America had a vastly different experience with conservative movements and parties. The far-right parties prominent in the political sphere during the 1980s and 1990s were a result of the United States’ soft power in the region. The parties largely subscribed to the “Washington Consensus,” a set of policies that supported the free market and the privatization of previously communal resources. The right-wing regimes in Latin America were at odds with the ideology of the new right. The European New Right was a reaction to modernization, economic tribulations, and globalization, while the right in Latin America caused the problems (mainly economic) that the New Right mobilized against.
The global New Right movement changed drastically in the 2010s, as it merged with the radical right, the extreme right, and mainstream conservatives under the banner of populist nationalism. Thus, the alt-right was born. Through the internet, online actors began building platforms, communicating with similarly minded people regardless of borders, and making their ideas easily accessible. The alt-right made its way to Latin America as politicians and public figures interacted with and participated in conferences such as the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Despite the ideology seeming incongruent with the region’s history, as right-wing parties in Latin America have historically stood opposed to the European New Right philosophies—especially in their anti-elite culture —the transnational networks have allowed the movement to nestle itself in a completely different context. The alt-right in Latin America is a fledgling movement; however, its growing prominence in political circles is increasingly notable. How did this happen? How does the movement look in this region? How do these transnational communities function? How does this global communication of the alt-Right build upon or contradict the intellectual history of the older new right? But most importantly, what does the prominence of global conservative movements in two different periods tell us about the development and spread of political movements?
My working hypothesis is that a period of increased mobility, spurred by globalization, the advancement of communication technologies, and the adoption of new strategies for political mobilization by specific actors, allowed the far right to spread beyond the place of the movements’ original conception. I argue that by understanding the transnational dimension of the earlier New Right movement in the twentieth century, we can understand the expansive nature of the alt-right in the twenty-first century.
Significance
Scholarship on the far right has steadily increased as the movement continues to unsettle global politics. Recent works, primarily in sociology, history, and political science, have expanded on the beliefs, interests, and prominence of these parties. However, most of the work is limited to specific nation-states, which is indeed useful when considering the internal diversity of the movement’s ideology. Transnational perspectives are rarer. Works with a transnational perspective have centered on Europe and the United States. I have yet to find research on how the alt-right (specifically) has manifested in Latin America. The existing research is limited to right-wing regimes in the 1980s and 90s.
Methodology and Approach
For this project, I will compare two time frames: the 1960s-70s and the 2010s-2020s to study the movement’s development and the mechanisms it employs to spread globally. For its transnational approach, I must balance the significance of the nation-state for the movement (as the actors themselves heavily engage with ideas around it), while also emphasizing that we can not just focus on the local and national histories and cultural contexts to understand the new right because of the significant role that transborder interactions had in shaping the ideologies of the far-right. For primary sources, I am considering studying interactions/communications, pamphlets, discussions, and older scholarship to research the New Right. While focusing on online forums, think tank articles, opinion pieces, speeches, and conference information for the alt-right.
Roadmap
The current project would be divided into three parts. The beginning of the history of the new right. A section on the historical context of the right in Latin America, and lastly, a portion on the alt-right in the twenty-first century, where I focus on the current state of the movement and its development in Latin America.