Essay on Right-Wing Extremism
By: Kalida Edwards
Tags: Politics, Right Wing, Terrorism, Racism, White Supremacy

Essay on Right-Wing Extremism

The key driver in all forms of extreme right-wing terrorism and violence, from the Ku Klux Klan to Breivik, Tarrant (Christchurch) and Earnest (San Diego synagogue), is the fear of the extinction of the so-called White Race.

The fear of the extinction of the white race is based on a theory which simmers beneath the modern foundation of our society, and drives extremist right-wing terrorism. As perhaps originally thought, the fear of the extinction of the white race it is not a small-scale conspiracy confined to niche social media dispersion, as it is often minimised. This fear is based on the idea ‘that white people are at risk of being wiped out through migration, miscegenation or violence.’[1] The White Replacement Theory is a conspiracy that was popularised by white supremacist David Lane 1995.[2] He deduced that white Euro populations would be ‘deliberately replaced at an ethnic and cultural level through migration and the growth of migrant communities.’[3] The fear of the elimination of the white race is woven into the fabric of Western societies, and is explicitly propagated on social media, implicitly so by right-wing European governments. In this time, we are witnessing the rise of white extremist terrorism. The White Replacement theory motivates extreme-right terrorists, and forms the basis of the Ku Klux Klan’s ethos. Likewise, lone wolf actors such as Anders Behring Breivik, Brenton Tarrant and John Timothy Earnest were driven by the need to preserve the white race, and opposition to immigration as well as ‘fragile masculinity and sense of grandiosity.’[4]

Far Right groups pose a deadly threat in today’s world.[5] As paranoia ‘is affectively networked through digital technologies, political performances, and social media to radicalise white men,’ violent acts of terrorism are increasing. [6] This paranoia is manipulated and ‘networked by state and non-state actors,’ resulting in ‘violent physical and structural affects’ on society.[7] In some Western countries, ‘Christians are told their faith is the most persecuted in the world.’[8] In the United States, the president haphazardly invoked a slogan coined by the Ku Klux Klan in a message towards ethnic Democratic congresswomen — ‘love it or leave it.’[9] Flippant racism, and reactionary restrictions on immigration by right-wing political parties seem to validate the suspicion that Anglo-Christian societies are in danger of being overrun by immigrants, corrupted by LGBTQI and feminist rights. According to anti-Muslim terrorist Breivik, these corrupting influences would be responsible for ‘the deconstruction of gender,’ with the power to ‘destroy his masculinity and identity.’[10] Ultimately, Breivik was driven to carry out a murder spree, ‘deploying a rationale that was dictated by extremist ideology.’ [11] His first political experiences, as stated in his writings posted online after his attack, were all ‘with right-leaning parties that had strong anti-immigration platforms.’ [12] Similarly, the Christchurch Massacre perpetrator Tarrant was motivated by anti-Muslim rhetoric and was effectively radicalised in Australia, in a country with strict immigration policies and heavy racist rhetoric disseminated by mainstream media. As author Michael Scott Walton contends, Australia is still led by institutions that ‘emphasize differences between nations,’ and position refugees and migrants as invaders.[13] The ingrained paranoia is an affective ‘ecology,’ which paves the way for radicalisation online.[14]

The ‘Great Replacement’ theory originated in France, created by French writer Renaud Camus. He claims that ‘a slow moving white genocide is being systematically enacted across the world, allowing other races and cultures’ to overrun white-dominant nations.[15] While there are influential bodies of work which explicitly describe the Great Replacement Theory in scholarly terms, the internet seems to have developed beyond such theories. Not only is the world marred by leaders who reservedly allude that ‘open borders are the cause of an attack of potentially apocalyptic forces,’ such statements are unchallenged and nurtured online.[16] The largely unregulated world of the internet ‘has been accepted as a mass medium of freedom. Jessica Johnson contends that social media has played a pivotal role in increasing paranoia amongst white men, and contributed to the radicalisation of Tarrant and Breivik. Tarrant left behind a manifesto which referenced the Great Replacement and White Genocide theories. [17] In these lone wolf cases, the internet acts as a catalyst, and ‘plays a supportive role in pushing the individual from radical thought to action.’[18] Extreme right communities are notorious for using a variety of methods to disseminate the Great Replacement theory, including ‘dehumanising racist memes, distorted demographic data and debunked science,’ in pushing the individual from radical thought to action.’[19]

Lone wolf terrorists vehemently believe in the white genocide myth, as is present in their respective online writings. Breivik’s ‘2083: A European Declaration of Independence’ highlights his hatred of Islam, but also emphasizes ‘a fear of humiliating subjugation to a dominating force that has the power to destroy his masculinity and identity.’ [20] Likewise, Tarrant too gunned down fifty-one people in two mosques in Christchurch, and named his own manifesto ‘The Great Replacement.’ Breivik was an extreme right-wing terrorist who was driven ultimately by a hatred of Islam, as was Tarrant, who ‘took true inspiration from Breivik.’[21] While Earnest targeted a synagogue, he too was preoccupied with white genocide, and says Tarrant ‘showed him that it could be done, and that it needed to be done.’[22] In the USA, the Great Replacement theory is often said to be under the control of Jewish enemies, a notion reinforced by the Ku Klux Klan. In any case, it is always those perceived to be outsiders who are framed ‘as destructive threats to Western institutions of privilege.’ [23]While all three of the above terrorists show an understanding of the Great Replacement Theory, it is unlikely that Tarrant and Earnest were familiar with the concept of Camus’ original work, and more likely developed their worldview ‘through online alt-right and Indentitarian sub-cultures.’[24] Regardless, the Great Replacement theory has successfully constructed a Christianised apocalyptic story which ‘capitalises on fear to transform genuine love of nation into volatile xenophobia that encourages the need for violent self-defence.’ [25]

According to Nasar Meer, the storm that propels our present wreckage of extreme right-wing terrorism is carried by the force of whiteness, as racial privilege and as supremacy.[26] It does not exist only in the dark recesses of the internet. White supremacy is, unfortunately, normalized, and reproduced by modern mainstream Western institutions which concentrate instead on the ‘pathology of racist individuals rather than the structural forces that produced racist social systems.’[27] It is convenient to point out the anomalies which created the Ku Klux Klan, Tarrant, Earnest and Breivik, but inconvenient to study the nurturing of their views by greater society and politics. Baited by politicians who claim that ‘open borders have allowed drugs and gang bangers to pour in’ to Western countries, the rise in far-right extremism should come as no surprise. [28] While it does take a certain level of extremist delusion to commit acts of terror, ‘nationalist rhetoric and policy’ has been framed as defensive resistance.[29] Further, it is ‘a reaction to the end of white entitlement as the global norm.’[30] While politicians rely on a flawed view of social sciences to shield themselves from ‘ethical responsibility,’ it is clear that they repeatedly seek to emphasise the dangerous differences between nationalities, rather than commonalities.[31]

The Great Replacement theory connects anti-immigration, anti-LGBT, anti-abortion and

anti-establishment narratives.[32] Extreme right-wing terrorists, perhaps unwittingly, are

fighting against the ‘unravelling of masculine settler mythologies… and the [perceived] violent end of white entitlement.’[33] They see themselves as ‘crusader warriors’ who love their nation, and will fight against the imaginary forces who are taking it away and threaten their extinction.[34] The idea of a White Genocide frames ‘other communities as enemies, as invaders, as threats.’ [35] In the case of lone wolves, a certain ‘personalised rage’ at the prospect of their extinction propels them to commit violent acts of terror, as is drawn from their respective online writings. [36] Their fears are consistently reinforced by current ‘world views present in public discourse,’ with world leaders who frame immigrants as ‘criminals, invaders, terrorists.’ [37] While there has to have been a certain level of irrationality required for the above extreme right-wing terrorists, and while the violence is said to be intolerable, it is undeniable that their points of view are validated by the majority white systems and institutions that govern the modern world.

[1] ‘The Great Replacement’: Jacob Davey and Julia Ebner, “The Great Replacement: The Violent Consequences of Mainstreamed Extremism,” ISD, Accessed 19 October 2020. URL: https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Great-Replacement-The-Violent-Consequences-of-Mainstreamed-Extremism-by-ISD.pdf, pg.4

[2] Ibid, pg. 6

[3] Ibid, pg. 7

[4] Barry Richards, “What Drove Anders Breivik?” Sage Journals, (2014), Pg. 43

[5] Steven Chermak, Joshua Freilich and Michael Suttmoeller, “The Organizational Dynamics of Far-Right Hate Groups in the US: Comparing Violent to NonViolent Organizations,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 36, №3. Pg. 194

[6] Jessica Johnson, “The Self-Radicalization of White Men: “Fake News and the Affective Networking of Paranoia,” Communication, Culture and Critique, Vol. 11, №1, pg. 100

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid, pg. 112

[9] Barry Richards, “What Drove Anders Breivik?” Sage Journals, (2014), pg. 45

[10] ibid

[11] Raffaello Pantucci, “What Have We Learned about Lone Wolves from Anders Behring Breivik?” Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 5, №5/6, 27–42 (2011), pg. Raffaello Pantucci, pg. 30

[12] Ibid, pg. 31

[13] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 27

[14] Ibid, pg. 100

[15] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 1

[16] Ibid, pg. 14

[17] ‘The Great Replacement’: Jacob Davey and Julia Ebner, “The Great Replacement: The Violent Consequences of Mainstreamed Extremism,”pg. 4

[18] Raffaello Pantucci, “What Have We Learned about Lone Wolves from Anders Behring Breivik?” Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 5, №5/6, 27–42 (2011), pg. 35

[19] Ibid

[20] Barry Richards, “What Drove Anders Breivik?” Sage Journals, (2014), pg. 45

[21] Barry Richards, “What Drove Anders Breivik?” Sage Journals, (2014), pg. 43

[22] Graham Macklin, “The Christchurch Attacks: Livestream Terror in the Viral Video Age,” CTC Sentinel, Vol 12, №6, 2019

[23] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 2

[24] Graham Macklin, “The Christchurch Attacks: Livestream Terror in the Viral Video Age,” CTC Sentinel, Vol 12, №6, 2019

[25] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 1

[26] Nasar Meer, “The Wreckage of White Supremacy,” Identities, Vol. 26, №5: 501–509 (2019)

[27] Ibid

[28] Ibid

[29] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 13

[30]Graham Macklin, “The Christchurch Attacks: Livestream Terror in the Viral Video Age,” CTC Sentinel, Vol 12, №6, 2019

[31] Nasar Meer, “The Wreckage of White Supremacy,” Identities, Vol. 26, №5: 501–509 (2019)

[32] ‘The Great Replacement’: Jacob Davey and Julia Ebner, “The Great Replacement: The Violent Consequences of Mainstreamed Extremism,” pg. 5

[33] Graham Macklin, “The Christchurch Attacks: Livestream Terror in the Viral Video Age,” CTC Sentinel, Vol 12, №6, 2019

[34] Raffaello Pantucci, “What Have We Learned about Lone Wolves from Anders Behring Breivik?” Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 5, №5/6, 27–42 (2011), pg. 30

[35] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020, pg. 27

[36] Raffaello Pantucci, “What Have We Learned about Lone Wolves from Anders Behring Breivik?” Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 5, №5/6, 27–42 (2011), Pg. 33

[37] Michael Scott Walton, “Defending White America: The Apocalyptic Meta-Narrative of White Nationalist Rhetoric,” Scholars Archive, Theses and Dissertations, Accessed October 19, 2020