A Contradiction? the Far-Right and Internationalism

By: Hannah Long

From reading these articles I think it’s safe to say that the far right has always had a relationship to internationalism. Which is a strange concept to begin with, as one of the key components to any far right ideology is that of a distaste for any greater states/nations. A great example of this contradictory standard is Italy’s fascist period, their subsequent rule by Mussolini had a prime focus upon bonifica della cultura, otherwise known as cultural reclamation. The far sought to purge outside influences but when it came to further pushing their own culture and society elsewhere the issue became irrelevant. 

By projecting their own beliefs and doctrines on an international scale the far right was able to gather a bigger following, allowing themselves more attention by picking and choosing when and more importantly to whom they are having an influence on. In the past this could be seen with the Ethiopian population and the greater surrounding populations of Africans in East Africa as it was seen as an opportunity to overwhelm these areas and repopulate with white Europeans. In addition Jewish communities have also found themselves to consistently be a part of the far right’s agenda to cross international boundaries to further reiterate their anti-semitic views, conspiracies, and crimes against this group. The Judeo-Bolshevism sealed the fates of Jewish people across Europe in the late 1910’s and early 1920’s, providing a great platform for far-right governments to connect with the far-left over their own hate.

Works Cited:

Paul Hanebrink, A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism (Harvard
University Press, 2018), pp. 1-10,

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, “Conquest and Collaboration” in Fascist Modernities: Italy, 1922-1945
(University of California Press, 2004), pp. 17-45

Chapter 1: Defining Terms

By: Hannah Long

In general we as humans love to categorize and give things labels, it is an ability that allows us to recognize patterns and features that are collectively shared. In a political sense it allows us to come to an agreement on what characteristics a specific ideology should have and how those who adhere to it are expected to behave. This becomes all the more crucial when analyzing stronger political views that influence governance more deeply.

While, the importance of differentiating between terms such as authoritarian, populist, and fascist should be clear cut, that is farther from the actual truth. In this week’s readings, I realized how simply defining any given political sphere is a complex mix between our own personal opinions as well as textbook definitions. As the word populist was thrown around so much in 2019, Brubaker explained how it’s not just a lazy journalistic cliché (Brubaker, 2019), but rather as a result of the growing link between media and politics. As many governments have become more direct in their responses, making the word more common in ideological discourse.

I found Brubaker’s points provide a very clear discussion of populism as both a term and ongoing phenomena that has and is still a hot topic due what he describes as the perfect storm of political and social issues happening all at the same time. Likewise, Paxton discussed the rise of fascism in the twentieth century as a label to differentiate itself from the pack (Paxton, 3). The term itself is almost so analyzed and discussed that the set of characteristics that make up the word fascist can never really be shaken from it, or mistaken for another political ideology unlike populism has been and maybe will be for a time to come.

With populist having become the new controversial label many seek to avoid, I wonder if in the coming years we will see a trend of using different words and ideological spheres to define such a broad approach.

Rogers Brubaker, “Why Populism?” NUPI Podcast (51 minutes).

Robert Paxton, The Anatomy of Fascism (New York, 2004), pp 3-23.

Nupi. “Podcast: Why Populism? Why Here? Why Now?” NUPI. Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt. https://www.nupi.no/en/news/podcast-why-populism-why-here-why-now.

Introduction :)

Me and my trusty hat

Hi new faces and old alike! My name is Hannah and I am in my fourth year of History, concentrating in Public History (to sound a little fancy). My relationship with history has always been a very present part of my life, as I have been fascinated with history on a global scale since I was very young. I can attribute this to my immigration to Canada and relatives back in the UK who would give me history books as presents and take me to historic sites on my visits back.

Recently over the summer I was fortunate enough to volunteer with archeologists on a Roman Villa and was able to expand my insight into how history is viewed and treated in different countries. I really enjoy seeing the variety of jobs available in this field and how different they all are from each other!

See you all in class!