Unrest in Istanbul, June, 2013. Wikicommons/ Eser Karadağ. Some rights reserved.The contemporary far-right comprises three main strands. The first is the authoritarian right, aiming to weaken progressive forces and civil rights and liberties without trying to destroy the institutions of electoral democracy altogether. The second comprises the proto-fascist parties that (implicitly or explicitly) aim to destroy electoral democracy and monopolize political power indefinitely. The lack of a strong paramilitary apparatus is one of the main differences distinguishing these movements from the classical fascism (of Italy and Germany) of the inter-war period. Front National (FN) in France and Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Germany are examples of this phenomenon. Any worsening of the ongoing world economic crisis and/or rise of the radical left can trigger a rapid shift from proto-fascism to fascism in regions worst hit by the crisis.
Finally, we have seen the rise of parties resembling classical fascism, combining legal/parliamentary methods with paramilitary organization and violence, striving to establish a monopoly of power. Hindu nationalism, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People’s Party, BJP) on the parliamentary front and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteer Organization, RSS) on the paramilitary front, is the clearest and most important example of contemporary fascism.
This tripartite taxonomy does not imply unbridgeable boundaries. Depending on the changes in the national and global political economy, far-right movements may shift positions. Any possible worsening of the ongoing world economic crisis and/or rise of the radical left can trigger a rapid shift from proto-fascism to fascism in regions that are worst hit by the crisis.
