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{{about||the publication based in the United States|Alternative Right}}
{{about||the publication based in the United States|Alternative Right}}
The '''alt-right''' is a segment of [[far-right|far-right ideologies]] presented as an alternative to mainstream [[conservatism in the United States]].<ref name="weeklystandard1"/> The alt-right has been described as a movement unified by support for Republican presidential candidate [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Donald Trump]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name=Beast/><ref name="darcy"/> as well as [[Criticism of multiculturalism|opposition to multiculturalism]] and [[Opposition to immigration|immigration]].<ref name=CNNexplained/><ref name="newsday1" />
The '''alt-right''' is a segment of [[right-wing politics|right-wing ideologies]] presented as an alternative to mainstream [[conservatism in the United States]].<ref name="weeklystandard1"/> The alt-right has been described as a movement unified by support for Republican presidential candidate [[Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016|Donald Trump]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name=Beast/><ref name="darcy"/> as well as [[Criticism of multiculturalism|opposition to multiculturalism]] and [[Opposition to immigration|immigration]].<ref name=CNNexplained/><ref name="newsday1" />


The alt-right has no official ideology, but various sources have described it as a loosely defined conservative movement associated with [[white nationalism]],<ref name="newsday1"/><ref name="VoxEchoes"/><ref name=People/> [[white supremacism]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name="newsday1"/><ref name=vox160607/><ref name=NPCWhatIs/> [[antisemitism]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name="newsday1"/><ref name="NYTechoes"/><ref name=People/> [[right-wing populism]],<ref name="NewYorker"/><ref name="shapiro"/> [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]],<ref name="weeklystandard2"/> and the [[neoreactionary movement]].<ref name="weeklystandard1"/><ref name="nationalpost"/><ref name="Haaretz"/>
The alt-right has no official ideology, but various sources have described it as a loosely defined conservative movement associated with [[white nationalism]],<ref name="newsday1"/><ref name="VoxEchoes"/><ref name=People/> [[white supremacism]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name="newsday1"/><ref name=vox160607/><ref name=NPCWhatIs/> [[antisemitism]],<ref name="WPechoes"/><ref name="newsday1"/><ref name="NYTechoes"/><ref name=People/> [[right-wing populism]],<ref name="NewYorker"/><ref name="shapiro"/> [[Nativism (politics)|nativism]],<ref name="weeklystandard2"/> and the [[neoreactionary movement]].<ref name="weeklystandard1"/><ref name="nationalpost"/><ref name="Haaretz"/>

Revision as of 03:24, 27 August 2016

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For the publication based in the United States, see Alternative Right.

The alt-right is a segment of right-wing ideologies presented as an alternative to mainstream conservatism in the United States.[1] The alt-right has been described as a movement unified by support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump,[2][3][4] as well as opposition to multiculturalism and immigration.[5][6]

The alt-right has no official ideology, but various sources have described it as a loosely defined conservative movement associated with white nationalism,[6][7][8] white supremacism,[2][6][9][10] antisemitism,[2][6][11][8] right-wing populism,[12][13] nativism,[14] and the neoreactionary movement.[1][15][16]

The alt-right has been said to be a largely online movement with Internet memes widely used to advance or express its beliefs, often on websites such as 4chan.[2][9][11][17][18]

Etymology

In November 2008, Paul Gottfried addressed the H. L. Mencken Club about what he called "the alternative right".[19][20] In 2009, two more posts at Taki's Magazine, by Patrick J. Ford and Jack Hunter, further discussed the alternative right.[21][22] The term's modern usage, however, is most commonly attributed to white nationalist and self-described "identitarian" Richard B. Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute and founder of Alternative Right.[12][23]

Beliefs

The alt-right has no official ideology. The Associated Press has said there is "no one way to define its ideology"[24] and the BBC has called it an "amorphous movement".[25] The alt-right has been said to include elements of white nationalism,[6][7][8] white supremacism[2][6][9][10] and antisemitism.[2][6][11][8] It has also been linked to right-wing populism,[12][13] nativism,[14] and the neoreactionary movement.[1][15][16]

Discussing the origins of Donald Trump's support, Jeet Heer of The New Republic identified the alt-right as having ideological origins among paleoconservatives, particularly with respect to restricting immigration and supporting a more openly nationalistic foreign policy.[26] Newsday columnist Cathy Young also noted the alt-right's strong opposition to both legal and illegal immigration and its hard-line stance on the European migrant crisis.[6]

Robert Tracinski of The Federalist has written that the alt-right opposes miscegenation and advocates collectivism and tribalism.[27] Nicole Hemmer stated on NPR that political correctness is seen by the alt-right as "the greatest threat to their liberty."[6][28] The alt-right commonly disdains mainstream politics and supports Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[3][4][12]

Use of memes

The alt-right's use of Internet memes to advance or express its beliefs, often on websites such as 4chan, has been widely reported.[2][9][11][17][18] Adherents of the ideology have, for instance, been credited for originating the term cuckservative, a portmanteau of "cuckold" and "conservative".[1][11][29] Another example is the use of triple parentheses or "echoes" to identify and target Jews online, which originated on the blog The Right Stuff.[2][7][11][30] The prevalence of memes in alt-right circles has led some commentators to question whether the alt-right is a serious movement rather than just an alternative way to express traditionally conservative beliefs.[12][9][11]

Reaction

Although some conservatives have welcomed the alt-right, others on the mainstream right and left have criticized it as racist or hateful,[6][31] particularly given its overt hostility to mainstream conservatism and the Republican Party.[1]

David A. French, writing for National Review, called alt-right proponents "wanna-be fascists" and bemoaned their entry into the national political conversation.[32]

Benjamin Welton, writing for The Weekly Standard, described the group as a "highly heterogeneous force" that refuses to "concede the moral high ground to the left."[1]

Benjamin Wallace-Wells, writing for The New Yorker, described it as a "loosely assembled far-right movement," but said that its differences from the conventional right-wing in American politics are more a matter of style than of substance: "One way to understand the alt-right is not as a movement but as a collective experiment in identity, in the same way that many people use anonymity on the Internet to test more extreme versions of themselves."[12]

Professor George Hawley of the University of Alabama suggested that the alt-right may pose a greater threat to progressivism than the mainstream conservative movement.[33]

Commentary

Jared Taylor (pictured) has been mentioned as an intellectual representative of the alt-right.[34]

In National Review in April, Ian Tuttle wrote, "The Alt-Right has evangelized over the last several months primarily via a racist and antisemitic online presence. But for Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos, the Alt-Right consists of fun-loving provocateurs, valiant defenders of Western civilization, daring intellectuals—and a handful of neo-Nazis keen on a Final Solution 2.0, but there are only a few of them, and nobody likes them anyways."[34] Bokhari and Yiannopoulos describe Jared Taylor, founder of American Renaissance, and Richard B. Spencer, founder of Alternative Right, as representative of intellectuals in the alt-right.[34][35] Cathy Young, writing in The Federalist, stated that the website RadixJournal had replaced the Alternative Right website, and describes a RadixJournal article on abortion which proclaimed that the pro-life position is "'dysgenic,' since it encourages breeding by 'the least intelligent and responsible' women."[36]

Cathy Young, writing in Newsday, called the alt-right "a nest of anti-Semitism" inhabited by "white supremacists" who regularly use "repulsive bigotry".[6] Chris Hayes on All In with Chris Hayes described alt-right as a euphemistic term for "essentially modern-day white supremacy."[37] BuzzFeed reporter Rosie Gray described the alt-right as "white supremacy perfectly tailored for our times," saying that it uses "aggressive rhetoric and outright racial and anti-Semitic slurs" and that it has "more in common with European far-right movements than American ones."[38] Yishai Schwartz, writing for Haaretz, described the alt-right as "vitriolically anti-Semitic," saying that "The 'alternative' that the alt-right presents is, in large part, an alternative to acceptance of Jews," and warned that it must be taken seriously as a threat.[16]

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Breitbart News has become a popular outlet for alt-right views.[39]

On August 25, 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton devoted a speech to denouncing the alt-right and linking it to Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Welton, Benjamin (February 1, 2016). "What, Exactly, is the 'Alternative Right?'". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Ohlheiser, Abby (June 3, 2016). "Anti-Semitic Trump supporters made a giant list of people to target with a racist meme". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ a b Betsy Woodruff. "Rush Limbaugh's Favorite New White-Power Group". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Oliver Darcy (January 20, 2016). "GOP Strategist Under Fire After Giving This Vulgar Description of Trump's 'Alt-Right' Fans on MSNBC | Video". TheBlaze.com. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  5. ^ Gregory Krieg (August 25, 2016). "Clinton is attacking the 'Alt-Right' – What is it?". CNN. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cathy Young (January 25, 2016). "Donald Trump's rant against political correctness is comfort food to racists". Newsday. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Yglesias, Matthew (June 6, 2016). "The (((echo))), explained". Vox.
  8. ^ a b c d Tierney McAfee (August 25, 2016). "What Is the Alt-Right Anyway? A User's Guide". People. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e Dylan Matthews (April 18, 2016). "The alt-right is more than warmed-over white supremacy. It's that, but way way weirder". VOX. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Benjy Sarlin (August 25, 2016). "5 Things to Know About the 'Alt-Right'". NBC News. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Hess, Amanda (June 10, 2016). "For the Alt-Right, the Message Is in the Punctuation". The New York Times.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (May 5, 2016). "Is the Alt-Right for real?". The New Yorker.
  13. ^ a b Shapiro, Ben. "The Conservative Intellectual Movement in America: Then and Now". National Review.
  14. ^ a b "An Open Letter to Mitt Romney". The Weekly Standard.
  15. ^ a b "Colby Cosh:At some point, people will tire of being urged to progress while being told that none has ever happened". National Post.
  16. ^ a b c Schwartz, Yishai (May 31, 2016). "Banal, Incoherent, anti-Semitic and pro-Trump: Why We Should Take the Alt-right Seriously". Haaretz.
  17. ^ a b Jesse Singal (May 26, 2016). "Explaining Ben Shapiro's Messy, Ethnic-Slur-Laden Breakup With Breitbart". New York. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  18. ^ a b Jake Kivanç (June 15, 2016). "Nero, Nazis, and the New Far Right: The Phenomena of the Professional Troll". Vice. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  19. ^ Gottfried, Paul (January 22, 2016). "The Decline and Rise of the Alternative Right –". The Unz Review. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  20. ^ Gottfried, Paul (December 1, 2008). "The Decline and Rise of the Alternative Right". Taki's Magazine.
  21. ^ Theodoracopulos, Taki (July 27, 2009). "Economism in the Alt Right". Taki's Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  22. ^ Hunter, Jack (November 3, 2009). "Whither the Alternative Right?". Taki's Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  23. ^ Larry Keller (March 15, 2010). "Paleocon Starts New Extreme-Right Magazine". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  24. ^ "Clinton sees Trump ties to 'alt-right' dystopian ideology". Associated Press.
  25. ^ Wendling, Mike. "Trump's shock troops: Who are the 'alt-right'?". BBC News.
  26. ^ Heer, Jeet (January 22, 2016). "National Review Fails to Kill Its Monster". The New Republic.
  27. ^ Tracinski, Robert (April 4, 2016). "Yes, the Alt-Right Are Just a Bunch of Racists". The Federalist. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  28. ^ "What You Need To Know About The Alt-Right Movement". NPR.org. August 26, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  29. ^ Weigel, David. "'Cuckservative' – the conservative insult of the month, explained". The Washington Post.
  30. ^ "(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online". mic.com.
  31. ^ Robert Tracinski. "Yes, The Alt-Right Are Just a Bunch of Racists". The Federalist. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  32. ^ French, David (January 26, 2016). "Donald Trump & Alt-Right's Rise – Not Conservatives Fault". National Review. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  33. ^ George Hawley (January 25, 2016). Right-Wing Critics of American Conservatism. University Press of Kansas. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7006-2193-4.
  34. ^ a b c Tuttle, Ian. "The Racist Moral Rot at the Heart of the Alt-Right". National Review. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  35. ^ "An Establishment Conservative's Guide To The Alt-Right". Breitbart. March 29, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  36. ^ Young, Cathy. "You Can't Whitewash The Alt-Right's Bigotry". The Federalist. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  37. ^ "All In with Chris Hayes, Transcript 12/9/2015". MSNBC. December 9, 2015.
  38. ^ Gray, Rosie (July 7, 2015). "How 2015 Fueled The Rise Of The Freewheeling, White Nationalist Alt Right Movement – BuzzFeed News". Buzzfeed. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  39. ^ Piggott, Stephen. "Is Breitbart.com Becoming the Media Arm of the 'Alt-Right'?". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  40. ^ Maxwell Tani (August 25, 2016). "Hillary Clinton: 'A fringe element has effectively taken over the Republican Party'". Business Insider. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
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