The Radical Right and Fascism

Within the political science community, scholars typically draw a sharp distinction between the “radical right” and “fascism.” This chapter challenges such a distinction, and encourages scholars to reprise fascism’s relationship to the radical right. It suggests that(neo)fascism’s past offers the best route to understanding the present-day radical right. Such a historical interpretation seeks to enhance our understanding of the central importance of the neo-fascist European New Right as the “missing link” between fascism and contemporary radical right-wing populism. Moreover, much of the scholarly literature theorizing the radical right also fails to take into account activist cultures and shared domains. Rather than breaking the historical link between the radical right and fascism, this chapter calls on those studying this field to reinstate this important link, thereby acknowledging the continuing presence of fascism in today’s radical right.