ABSTRACT
It is commonly assumed that far-right populist and nationalist movements and parties emerge within, and in reaction to, liberal international orders. This paper challenges that assumption. It shows that, while the rise of the far-right in interwar Europe and in recent decades in the Global North occurred during periods characterized by globalization, it was a globalization that was essentially anti-liberal in nature. During both periods, globalization was shaped, not by a liberal, competitive ethos, but by conservative and counter-revolutionary values and ideologies, and by policies which worked to ‘dis-embed’ local economies, promote concentration and monopoly, and widen inequality. Far-right politics emerged, therefore, in reaction, not to liberalism, but to established conservative parties which appeared either unable or unwilling to suppress pressures from ‘below’ and as, therefore, too weak or corrupt to ensure the continuation of conservative policies.
