ABSTRACT
The 1990s were a heady time for the American radical right. From the scattered pockets of tiny groups and individuals that had characterized the extreme right of the 1980s, something approaching a genuine mass movement developed. The militia movement, more than many of its predecessors, was directly fueled by the actions of the federal government – from deadly confrontations between police and heterodox groups, to gun control and other federal regulations that angered many millions of Americans. At the same time, the government’s failure to significantly restrict non-white immigration helped spark radical groups with an explicitly racist agenda. The clear endorsement of multiculturalism by both government and many political elites also helped to provoke a backlash that is being felt to this day.
