The Identitarians

The Identitarians are a quickly growing ethnocultural transnational movement that, in diverse forms, originated in France and Italy and has spread into southern, central, and northern Europe. This timely and important study presents the first book-length analysis of this anti-globalist and anti-Islamic movement. José Pedro Zúquete, one of the leading experts in this field, studies intellectuals, social movements, young activists, and broader trends to demonstrate the growing strength and alliances among these once disparate groups fighting against perceived Islamic encroachment and rising immigration. The Identitarian intellectual and activist uprising has been a source of inspiration beyond Europe, and Zúquete ties the European experience to the emerging American Alt Right, in the limelight for their support of President Trump and recent public protests on university campuses across the United States. Zúquete presents the multifaceted Identitarian movement on its own terms. He delves deep into the Identitarian literature and social media, covering different geographic contexts and drawing from countless primary sources in different European languages, while simultaneously including many firsthand accounts, testimonies, and interviews with theorists, sympathizers, and activists. The Identitarians investigates a phenomenon that will become increasingly visible on both sides of the Atlantic as European societies become more multicultural and multiethnic, and as immigration from predominantly Muslim nations continues to grow. The book will be of interest to Europeanists, political scientists, sociologists, and general readers interested in political extremism and contemporary challenges to liberal democracies.

Global Identitarianism is about the global spread of the new far-right ideology and social movement Identitarianism. Founded in France in 2003, Identitarianism has inspired a range of groups such as Generation Identity in Europe and the alt-right in America. It has been spread by a far-right constellation that includes white nationalist direct action groups, think tanks, ‘alternative media’ organizations, social media ‘celebrities’, and political candidates. This book explores the global reach of this contentious far-right social movement using examples from Europe, North America, Australia, and South America. It will be essential reading for scholars and activists alike with an interest in race relations, fascism, extremism, migration studies, and social movements.

This booklet presents the foundational texts of Génération Identitaire, or Generation Identity, which has established identitarianism as an idea whose time has come in France, and which has been inspiring youth throughout Europe to form groups based on their ideals and style. The identitarians seek to rescue Europe from the grasp of radical liberalism and population displacement through immigration while simultaneously embracing a vision of a new and nostalgia-free Europe, one which will avoid the pitfalls of internal strife between its various peoples and nations. To this end, realizing that time is growing short, the members and supporters of Generation Identity have taken to the streets. In October 2012, they occupied a mosque that was under construction in Poitiers, the site of Charles Martel's victory over the Muslim Moors in 732, an action that was praised by Marine Le Pen of the Front National. In May 2013, they occupied the offices of the Socialist Party in Paris until they were forcibly expelled by the police. These bold actions have been shaking France to its foundations and have sparked youths across Europe to rise in unprecedented numbers in defence of their homelands. In these short texts, the leaders of Generation Identity describe their mission and their tactics, and answer their opponents. Generation Identity is only in its opening stages, but one thing is certain: before it reaches its end, Europe will not be the same.

The alt-right has been the most important new far-right grouping to appear in decades. Written by researchers from the anti-racist advocacy group HOPE not hate, this book provides a thorough, ground-breaking, and accessible overview of this dangerous new phenomenon. It explains where the alt-right came from, its history so far, what it believes, how it organises and operates, and its future trajectory. The alt-right is a genuinely transnational movement and this book is unique in offering a truly international perspective, outlining the influence of European ideas and movements as well as the alt-right's development in, and attitude towards, countries as diverse as Japan, India, and Russia. It examines the ideological tributaries that coagulated to form the alt-right, such as white supremacy, the neo-reactionary blogosphere, the European New Right, the anti-feminist manosphere, the libertarian movement, and digital hate culture exemplified by offensive memes and trolling. The authors explore the alt-right's views on gender, sexuality and masculinity, antisemitism and the Holocaust, race and IQ, globalisation and culture as well as its use of violence. The alt-right is a thoroughly modern far-right movement that uses cutting edge technology and this book reveals how they use cryptocurrencies, encryption, hacking, "meme warfare", social media, and the dark web. This will be essential reading for scholars and activists alike with an interest in race relations, fascism, extremism, and social movements.

This edited book aims to contribute to the political science scholarship on populism by focusing on the contemporary manifestations of populism in light of the current context. Populism has gone global, with populist parties gaining considerable ground, particularly in the last decade: populists are now in government in almost every part of the globe. In so doing, this book not only takes stock of the previous work on populism, but also builds upon it to further deepen our understanding of the phenomenon and take research forward. The authors explore different facets of the most recent manifestations of populism, trying to engage in new avenues as suggested by recent and authoritative academic work. The approach is comparative and multi-dimensional, with a cross-regional focus on Western Europe and the USA. The 12 contributions gathered in this book address a wide spectrum of aspects, many of which are largely understudied.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of radical right populism in Germany. It gives an overview of historical developments of the phenomenon and its current appearance. It examines three of the main far-right organizations in Germany: the radical right populist party AfD (Alternative for Germany), Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamification of the Occident), and the Identitarian Movement. The book investigates the positions of these groups as expressed in programmes, publications, and statements of party leaders and movement activists. It explores their history, ideologies, strategies, and their main activists and representatives, as well as the overlap between the groups. The ideological positions examined include populism, nativism, authoritarianism, volkish nationalism, ethnopluralism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, antifeminism, and Euroscepticism. The analysis shows that these ideological features are sometimes strategically interlinked for effect and used to justify specific political demands such as the stronger regulation of immigration and the exclusion of Muslims. This much-needed volume will be of particular interest to students and researchers of German politics, populism, social movements, party politics, and right-wing extremism.

The Nature of Identitarianism explores the background to this new far right movement. Since its origins in France in 2003, Identitarianism has become one of the most influential far-right ideologies. Inspiring groups such as Generation Identity in Europe and the Alt-Right in America, Identitarianism has spawned a far-right constellation that includes white nationalist direct action groups, think tanks, “alternative media” organizations and social media “celebrities”. But the ideas that underpin Identitarianism are often poorly understood. This book examines the movement’s antecedents and intellectual lineage in the thinkers of the Conservative Revolution and the European New Right, as well as the influence of far-right gurus such as Francis Parker Yockey, Jean Thiriart, Julius Evola, and Aleksandr Dugin. The author also investigates how conspiracy thinking, antisemitism, and islamophobia feature prominently in the identitarian worldview. This book will be essential reading for scholars and activists alike with an interest in race relations, fascism, extremism, and social movements.

This handbook provides contributions by some of the world-leading experts in the field on recent phenomena and trends in transnational terrorism. Based on the methodological approach of a trend-and-key factor analysis of transnational terrorism and processed on the virtual platform "Foresight Strategy Cockpit" (FSC), the volume seeks to examine what potential future variants of transnational terrorism may evolve. Focusing on the latest structural developments in the sphere of politically or religiously motivated violence, the handbook considers the tactical, strategic, and not least the systemic dimension of terrorism. Divided into seven thematic sections, the handbook’s contributions cover a wide range of issues, dealing among others with strategic and hybrid terrorism, the systemic dimension of extremist violence, prevalent actors, counter-narratives, the crime terror-nexus, the role of digitalization and the spiral dynamic between Islamist and right-wing terrorism. The expert contributions provide a condensed overview of current developments, structural linkages and important academic debates centering around transnational salafi-jihadi terrorism, but also right-wing terrorism and counter-terrorism. A key objective of the work is to make the effects of prevention/preemption, (de-) radicalization and (non-) intervention both transparent and assessable. As such, it contributes well-founded strategies, feasible solutions and options for policy-makers and counter-terrorism experts. This volume will be of great interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence and security studies.