When you hear of the term “Far Right”, whether that be labelling someone or something as being “a right-wing extremist”, there are many things that could come to your mind. Perhaps it is the idea that the “Far Right” is to do with your left and rights. Perhaps it is the idea that “Far Right” is something associated with whether something is correct or incorrect. Perhaps it is the idea that “Far Right” is the term associated with Hitler and the Nazi’s political ideology. Or perhaps it could be all three – there isn’t a specific definition – but from person to person, people may interpret the “Far Right” differently.
So what is the “Far Right”? The “Far Right” is a blanket term used for the people or political parties associated with ideas of the combination of right-wing politics – things associated with the conservative political thought – and extremism – political thought that is radically conservative or ultra-nationalist. This typically consists of views that are xenophobic, racist, homophobic or the belief that your race is supposedly superior to another. They present themselves as a sane hero who is here to save society from its eventual doom. In the present-day world, these are groups such as neo-fascism, neo-Nazism and racial supremacism.
Stemming from the French scholars Jean-Yves Camus and Nicolas Lebourg, they describe the core of the “Far Right’s” worldview as the ability to reject universalism in favour for the more extreme autophilia (the egotistical self-love). This leads to the belief that other values, parties or certain races should be eradicated of their impurities, so that the rest of the people can usher into a new era, which is sometimes called the “Golden Age”.
So why is it called the “Far Right” and not the “Far Middle” or “Distant Right”? During the French Revolution in 1789 there was an uprising in the conflict of two established ideas – hierarchy vs universal equality and freedom. The Democrats and Liberals sat on the farthest left side of the National Assembly, France’s parliament building, whereas monarchists sat on the farthest to the right. This also led to the emergence of the left-right political spectrum, a model to compare different political ideologies along a line.
The word “Far Right” is sometimes synonymous with Hitler and the Nazi’s ideology of Nazism. Being a “Far Right” party itself, it shared many elements and views of a traditional “Far Right” party, such as: nationalism, anti-semitism and white supremacy. However, there is some argument that the Nazi party was more extreme than any other traditional party – it emphasised the use of a dictator to govern the nation, and a total eradication of all enemies of the state, namely opponents of the Aryan people. Furthermore, through the SS (police force of the Nazis), they exploited people’s fear and terror of the Nazis to destroy any opposition, critics of the Nazi party, or certain races who did not fit in the Nazi regime.
The “Far Right” is still present in today’s world, with many political parties and groups striving to put their radical ideology in the current society. Being one of the most “Far Right” countries in the world, Marine Le Pen’s “National Rally”, or the “Rassemblement National” is a key example of a party with a more extreme view of a traditional right-wing party. In the 2022 elections, she gained a 41.46% vote, and went on to win 89 of the 577 seats in parliament. Other than having a traditional French agenda, it wants to achieve a ‘concrete improvement for French people’s lives’ and wanting to put past the longstanding accusations of racism and xenophobia of the party.
Additionally, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla’s right-wing Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), who are a xenophobic, anti-Islam party which opposes democracy, represent a third of the electorate of Germany. There have been reports that the AfD have met with Le Pen, neo-Nazis and Le Pen to discuss new ideas for the party, something that has caused a lot of political chaos, such as anti-AfD protests calling for a ban for extremist parties. Following the Nazi reign over Germany, there has been a longstanding disapproval of any “Far Right” parties, however many experts state that an anti-right-wing front is gradually declining. Problems such as inflation, recession and the rising refugee numbers have made a disgruntled Germany shift to vote for the AfD, indicating a parallel between the Nazis after the Great Depression in 1929 and social and economic problems in Germany today.
In conclusion, there are still many parties who deem themselves on the “Far-Right” on the left-right political spectrum today. There has, is, and always will be a threat of an imminent “Far Right” takeover of a country, something that has the potential to spiral out of control, much like Nazi Germany in the 1930s. However, unlike in the 1930s, there are many precautions that have been set in place to restrict an extremist right-wing party from gaining power, which can hopefully limit the amount of power the “Far Right” parties have. The upcoming French election in June of 2024 between the current president, Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing Marine Le Pen could be the turning point of the power the “Far Right” has, and could be the decision as to whether a major “Right Wing” party get shut down, or get integrated in French society, potentially even spreading internationally.
Written by Maxwell Juen, Year 10