Ultra-nationalist social movements in America and abroad: an attempt to classify and categorize relevant terminology

• In Event: Populism and Authoritarianism

Abstract

This paper will (try and aim) to provide an overview in terminology relevant to the
study and understanding of contemporary fascism and ultra-nationalist (right-wing)
social movements.

While the terminology of 'right wing extremism', as for instance used in Europe in the 1990s, does seem to be insufficient to conceptually capture and describe
current dynamics and developments as we are witnessing them in the US (and also in some European countries, such as Italy and Germany),this conference paper aims
to identify all relevant terminology to adequately characterize and describe current ultra-nationalist and / or extremist fundamentalist (social and political) movements
in the United States of America.
Understanding profoundly and precisely, with what kind of forces we are dealing,
should or will be the prerequisite to identify potential strategies to counter (some of) these neo-fascist,racist,sexist forces.
This paper thus focuses on political theory and aims to provide a relevant or
significant contribution to current debates and analyses in political science
concerning polity and policy in contemporary US American politics.
The author of this paper assumes and postulates that American politics in the so-called ‘Trumpist era' has increasingly been based and built on a so-called tri-partite
coalition of:
a) Ultra-nationalists (fascistoid forces, supported by corporatist money / capital and corporate power);
b) Extremist religious fundamentalists (generally in all Abrahamic religions with
regard to the Trump administration, particularly among evangelical fundamentalists
/ nationalists);

Author

• Michaela Charlotte Hertkorn-Paeffgen, University of Maine