Politics thrives on emotion as much as reason. Judgments about national conditions and desired changes blend rational analysis with gut feelings. For these to form shared programs trusted by millions, leaders must inspire deep conviction.
Consider these statements: “The Britain that I love is being ripped apart by diversity, equality and inclusion,” declared Suella Braverman, former home secretary, in February 2026. “It’s not just Britain that is being invaded, it’s not just Britain that is being raped. Every single western nation faces the same problem: an orchestrated, organised invasion and replacement of European citizens is happening,” claimed Tommy Robinson, far-right influencer, in September 2025. “We need to … explain to young girls and women the biological reality of this crisis. Many women in Britain are having children much too late in life,” noted Matthew Goodwin, media personality, in November 2024. “Britain is lurching towards civil war, and nobody knows how to stop it,” reported the Daily Telegraph in April 2025. “This is now about the future of western civilisation. Do we believe in a Judeo-Christian culture? Do we believe that the family is a unit for good? Do we believe in free speech? … This is how high the stakes are,” asserted Nigel Farage, founder of Reform UK, in September 2022. “A political revolution is under way in Britain! Britain is turning against the establishment,” stated GB News in September 2025. “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government & politicians with them … If that makes me racist, so be it,” posted Lucy Connolly, childminder from Northampton, in July 2024.
Emotions Driving Far-Right Momentum
These expressions reveal widespread sentiments of doom, humiliation, victimhood, and decline. They call for insurrection—sometimes violent—to protect a perceived beleaguered majority. Far-right leaders amplify these passions, either overtly or subtly, though they often emerge organically.
Historians like Robert Paxton highlight how fascism harnessed “mobilising passions”: crisis fears, group decline anxiety, purity quests, authority cravings, and violence glorification. As far-right groups gain electoral traction and online followings, observers question: Does this signal fascism’s return?
Similarities and Key Differences from 20th-Century Fascism
Abroad, parallels exist. India’s BJP under Narendra Modi links to the RSS paramilitary, tied to anti-Muslim violence. U.S. ICE operations resemble armed enforcement against citizens. Yet Britain’s far right differs. It lacks 20th-century fascism’s context: post-WWI scars, mass unemployment, revolutionary left threats, and paramilitary parties allied with elites.
Western societies enjoy relative peace and prosperity. No major left seeks revolution. Far-right groups claim democratic loyalty, unlike fascists who abandoned it. Still, a core overlap persists: the call to “purify” communities by targeting national enemies enabled by elites. This promise proves impossible, leading to stagnation or radical escalation, as in Nazi Germany and Mussolini’s Italy.
Defining the Far Right
Political scientist Cas Mudde describes the far right as rightwing nationalist movements opposing liberal democracy. It splits into extremes (rejecting democracy, embracing violence like fascism) and radicals (accepting elections but attacking checks like courts, rights laws, and media).
Radical right populism dominates: leaders pose as the true people’s voice against corrupt elites. While populism spans ideologies, far-right versions threaten freedoms via anti-immigration stances, minority restrictions, and hierarchical revivals.
Global Rise and Triggers
Far-right populists govern in India, Philippines, Poland, Hungary, Italy, U.S., Brazil, Argentina. They hold sway in European parliaments amid energy and food price hikes. Immigration fuels Western gains, but successes occur elsewhere—like Poland’s 2015 election or Duterte’s urban revival pledges.
Root causes lie in liberal democracy’s clash with capitalism’s inequalities. Unrestrained post-1990s capitalism lifted millions from poverty but widened gaps—India’s top 10% hold 65% wealth. The 2008 crisis exacerbated this: UK GDP fell over 6%, wages stagnate. Voters shift right in crises, per 1870-2014 European data.
Disaster Nationalism: The Core Appeal
Political theorist Richard Seymour terms it “disaster nationalism”: surface economic boldness (Milei’s chainsaw cuts, Trump’s tariffs) masks psychological payoff—making others lose to feel victorious. Policies punish minorities: Italy limits birth certificates to biological parents; Bolsonaro rallied evangelicals against “gender ideology”; Modi reframes India as Hindu-centric.
Threats frame as sex, birth, death perils from underclasses and elite treachery—refugees as rapists, interfaith marriages as plots. Promises contradict: security via induced disaster, corruption accusations amid self-enrichment, climate denial.
Dangers and Pathways Forward
This fosters violence: Duterte’s drug war killed 30,000; Israel’s far right echoes Gaza actions; India’s mob outbursts. Europe tempers rhetoric, but peril narratives persist. Coalitions tap broad woes like inflation, yet core resentments sustain them.
Neoliberalism—privatizations, business favoritism—breeds distrust: England’s sewage-plagued waters enrich shareholders. Social media amplifies conspiracies, extremism, lone-wolf attacks. Far-right leaders act as celebrity influencers.
Unlike rigid fascist parties, this far right remains unstable, challengeable through robust counterarguments addressing inequalities and emotions without tolerating threats to democracy.
