Right-Wing Populism in America

Right-wing militias and other antigovernment organizations have received heightened public attention since the Oklahoma City bombing. While such groups are often portrayed as extremists, the values they espouse have influenced mainstream politics and culture far more than most Americans realize. This important volume offers an in-depth look at the historical roots and current landscape of right-wing populism in the United States. Leading political analysts Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons illuminate the potent blend of anti-elitist rhetoric, conspiracy theories, and ethnic scapegoating that has fueled many political movements from the colonial period to the present day. Combining vivid description and incisive analysis, the book examines such groups as the Jacksonians, the Ku Klux Klan, and a host of Cold War nationalist cliques. It traces the evolution of right-wing populism into the electoral campaigns of George Wallace and Patrick Buchanan, the militancy of the Posse Comitatus and the Christian Identity movement, an array of millennial sects, and other contemporary movements. Unraveling the many different strands of right-wing populist ideology, the authors examine the political functions of white supremacist beliefs, hatred of Catholics, Jews, and immigrants, homophobia, and the subordination of women. Throughout, the book presents a nuanced portrait that is true to the complexities and paradoxes of our political life. It contends that right-wing populists are dangerous not because they are zealots on the fringes of society/m-/but because many are average citizens making earnest (though misguided) attempts to challenge existing power relations. Informative and thought-provoking, this book provides compelling insights into where right-wing populism comes from, how it has been fostered by the American social order, and how proponents of equality and social justice might work to diminish its influence.