Alt-right

SOURCE:  Wikipedia, captured 2020-09-15
This page last modified: 2022-02-16 11:24:15 -0800 (PST)


The alt-right, an abbreviation of alternative right, is a loosely connected far-right, white nationalist movement based in the United States. A largely online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the U.S. during the 2010s, although it has since established a presence in various other countries. The term is ill-defined, having been used in different ways by various self-described "alt-rightists," media commentators, and academics. Groups which have been identified as alt-right also espouse white nationalism, white supremacism, white separatism, right-wing populism, tight immigration restrictions, racism, anti-communism, anti-Zionism, Holocaust denial, xenophobia, antisemitism, antifeminismanti-LGBTQ+  [homophobia; transphobia; ...], and Islamophobia  [<< e.g., U.S. Department of Homeland Security].

In 2010, the American white nationalist Richard B. Spencer launched "The Alternative Right" webzine. Spencer's "alternative right" was influenced by earlier forms of American white nationalism, as well as paleoconservatism, the Dark Enlightenment, and the Nouvelle Droite.

Richard Spencer's "alternative right" term was shortened to "alt-right" and popularised by far-right participants of /pol/, the politics board of web forum 4chan.

"Alt-right" came to be associated with other white nationalist websites and groups, including Andrew Anglin's "Daily Stormer," Brad Griffin's "Occidental Dissent," and Matthew Heimbach's "Traditionalist Worker Party." Following the 2014 Gamergate controversy, the alt-right made increasing use of trolling and online harassment to raise its profile. In 2015, it attracted broader attention—particularly through coverage on Steve Bannon's   Breitbart News -- due to alt-right support for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

On being elected, Trump renounced the movement. Attempting to move from a web-based to a street-based movement, Richard Spencer and other alt-rightists organised the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which faced significant anti-fascist opposition. After this, the movement began to decline.

The alt-right is a biologically racist movement promoting a form of far-right identity politics for European Americans. Part of its membership supports anti-immigrationist policies to ensure a continued white majority in the United States. Others call for the breakup of the country to form a white separatist ethno-state in North America. Some alt-rightists seek to make white nationalism socially respectable in the U.S., while others -- known as the "1488" scene -- adopt openly white supremacist and neo-Nazi stances with the intent to shock and provoke. Some alt-rightists are anti-semitic, promoting a conspiracy theory that there is a Jewish plot to bring about white genocide; other alt-rightists view most Jews as members of the white race.

Alt-rightists generally support anti-interventionist and isolationist foreign policies alongside economic protectionism. Individuals aligned with many of the alt-right's ideas but not its white nationalism have been termed "alt-lite."

The alt-right distinguished itself from earlier forms of white nationalism through its largely online presence and its heavy use of irony and humor, particularly through the promotion of Internet memes like Pepe the Frog. Membership was overwhelmingly white and male, with academic and anti-fascist observers linking its growth to deteriorating living standards and prospects, anxieties about the place of white masculinity, and anger at increasingly visible leftist movements such as Black Lives Matter.

Groups using the "alt-right" label have been characterised as hate groups, while alt-right material has contributed to the radicalization of white men responsible for various far-right murders and terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 2014. Opposition to the alt-right has come from many areas of the political spectrum including socialists, liberals and conservatives. Critics charge that the term "alt-right" is merely a rebranding of white supremacism.

The alt-right is anti-feminist, advocates for a more patriarchal society, and intersects with the men's rights movement and other sectors of the online manosphere.

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