ABSTRACT
This book is the first systematic, multicountry exploration of far-right Newspeak.
The contributors analyze the ways in which contemporary far-right politicians, intellectuals, and pundits use and abuse traditional liberal concepts and ideas to justify positions that threaten democratic institutions and liberal principles. They explore cases of both far-right and right-wing thought in eastern and western Europe, the United States, and Canada. Subjects include well-known figures, such as Marine Le Pen, Tucker Carlson, Peter Thiel, Nick Griffin, Thierry Baudet, Jordan Peterson, Russell Brand, and Viktor Orbán, and lesser-known names, such as the Czech politician Tomio Okamura and the Internet personality "Raw Egg Nationalist." The contributors examine these figures’ claims about hot-button issues, including immigration, Islam, race, Covid-19 policies, feminism, monetary policy, and free speech. The book demonstrates that mainstream politicians and intellectuals are at risk of losing control over the definitions of the very concepts, including equal rights, racial and ethnic diversity, and political tolerance, that undergird their vision of liberal democracy.
It will be of interest to scholars, journalists, policymakers, political scientists, historians, political theorists, sociologists, and general audiences concerned about the sophisticated efforts of far-right and right-wing politicians and pundits to undermine the foundations of liberal democracy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|24 pages
Introduction
part II|60 pages
The Language of Liberalism
chapter 2|21 pages
Masters of Contemporary Newspeak
chapter 3|17 pages
“We are Looking for a New Feminism”
chapter 4|20 pages
Far-Right Politics in the Czech Republic
part III|58 pages
Far-Right Newspeak in Practice
chapter 5|19 pages
The Transition from Liberal to Illiberal Constitutionalism in Poland and Hungary
chapter 6|20 pages
When Legal Language Meets Apocalypse Anxiety
chapter 7|17 pages
From Practical Critics to Hateful Malcontents
part IV|43 pages
The Ambiguities of a Concept
part V|44 pages
Beyond Far-Right Newspeak
chapter 10|16 pages
Against the Global Prison-Society
chapter 11|26 pages
Hard Men, Hard Money, Hardening Right
part VI|29 pages
Conclusion