Not by Hate Alone: Epistemic Conviction and the Moral-Emotive Landscape of the Ethnonationalist Right

• In Event: Open Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 9: Authoritarianism, Far-Right Movements, and Resistance

Abstract

The vast majority of social science literature on contemporary ethnonationalism—often subsumed under labels such as the dissident right, alt-right, or identitarian right—frames these movements as inherently hateful, dangerous, and antithetical to democratic civilization. Scholarship frequently focuses on overtly extremist manifestations, including neo-Nazi organizations, conspiracy-driven groups like QAnon, and other fringe elements that operate beyond the bounds of mainstream respectability. Far less attention has been paid to the metapolitical dimensions of more intellectually oriented currents that explicitly reject crude white supremacist rhetoric in favor of racial separatism, grounded in "race realism" and warnings of multiculturalism's existential threat to Western civilization.

This article examines three prominent organizations within the U.S. ethnonationalist right—American Renaissance, Counter-Currents Publishing, and The Political Cesspool—as exemplars of these streams. Drawing on their publications, conferences, and broadcasts, it demonstrates that their ideologies are anchored in a profound epistemic conviction regarding innate racial differences (particularly in intelligence and behavioral traits) and the allegedly inevitable erosion of social trust and civilizational vitality under multiculturalism. Beyond the groups’ empirical claims about race, the analysis reveals a diverse moral-emotive landscape that extends beyond hate and disgust to constructive moral emotions, such as nostalgia for lost collective trust, calls for heroic sacrifice, and expressions of solidarity and ingroup love. These affective dimensions are not mere window dressing but integral to the groups’ efforts to broaden their public appeal while sustaining commitment amid external hostility and internal challenges. The findings suggest that social science should engage the full phenomenology of these groups—encompassing both their epistemic frameworks and moral-emotive appeals—rather than reducing them to pathology or malice alone. By doing so, critics may better understand their resilience and appeal in an era of perceived cultural decline.

Author

• Mark Horowitz, Seton Hall University