The international Alternative Right. From Charlottesville to the White House

128 Pages·2011·5.6 MB·English

by  Joe Mulhall

The InTernaTIonal
alTernaTIve rIghT
From CharloTTesvIlle To The WhITe house
By
Dr Joe Mulhall,
David Lawrence,
Simon Murdoch.
Additional research
by Abigail Simmonds.
HOPE not hate Ltd
PO Box 1085, HA9 1HU
United Kingdom
Registered office: Suite 1, 3rd Floor,
11-12 St. James’s Square,
London SW1Y 4LB
United Kingdom
Tel.: [phone]
www.hopenothate.org.uk
@hope.n.hate @hopenothate HOPE not hate @hopenothate
The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT reporT
ConTenTs
n InTroduCTIon n seCTIon 2

Key Findings 5 The Influence of the Alternative Right 40
Introduction 6 The Alternative Right and the
U.S. Mainstream 42
n seCTIon 1 Influencing Elections: The First
“Meme President” 47
Understanding the Alternative Right 8 Breitbart London: UKIP,
Brexit and Beyond 48
What is the Alternative Right 9
Breitbart London and the Alt-Right 51
Main Constituent Parts of the
International Alternative Right 10
The Westminster Terror Attack: A Case
Study of the Alternative Right Online 52
Alternative Right Timeline 11
Funding the Alternative Right 56
Affiliated Movements of the
International Alternative Right 12
n seCTIon 3
A Brief History of the Alt-Right
and Alt-Light 14
My Year Inside the International
Masculinity, Sexuality and Gender
Alt-Right 58
Roles in the Alternative Right 16
Charlottesville 69
The Role of the Troll: Troll Culture
& the Alternative Right 20
The Infiltration Map 70
Paul Joseph Watson in Numbers 25
Iconography of the Alt-Right 26
Alternative Right: Online Antagonistic
Communities 28
Spreading Hate: The Alternative
Right in Numbers 29
The European Roots of Alternative
Right Ideology 30
The Identitarian Movement and the
International Alternative Right 34
The Identitarian Movement Map 36
Defend Europe in Numbers 37
The Alternative Right and the
Counter-Jihadists 38
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT
ConTenTs (ConTInued)
n seCTIon 4 n seCTIon 5

The Alt-Light 72 The Alt-Right 92
Alt-Light: Less Extreme, More Dangerous 74 Richard Spencer 94
Paul Joseph Watson 78 Daniel Friberg 96
Milo Yiannopoulos 80 Andrew Anglin 97
Mike Cernovich 81 Greg Johnson 98
Stefan Molyneux 82 Jared Taylor 99
Gavin McInnes 83 Alt-Right Organisations 100
Alt-Light Organisations 84 Alt-Right Websites 108
Alt-Light Websites 86 Alt-Right Individuals 112
Alt-Light Individuals 88 Split in the Alt-Right: AltRight
Corporation vs. Counter-Currents
Publishing 126
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT reporT
reporT Key FIndIngs
l This is the most comprehensive report into the International Alternative Right
yet produced.
l The report offers a definitive answer to the question ‘What is the Alternative Right?’
l It takes an international approach, challenging the overly Americentric nature of most
current work on the topic and providing a better, more comprehensive understanding
of the nature and origins of the movement.
l It highlights the much-ignored role of European far-right ideas and movements in the
development of the Alternative Right.
l The report includes the first ever pictures of the elusive leading alt-right figures
Greg Johnson and Francis Roger Devlin.
l The report explains the two distinct wings of the International Alternative Right, the
alt-right and the alt-light, and where they overlap and diverge.
l The report includes the most extensive ever infiltration into the alt-right on both
sides of the Atlantic, offering a never-before-seen insight into the inner workings of
the movement.
l The report includes extensive profiles of all the key alt-right and alt-light individuals,
organisations, websites and forums.
l The report highlights the influence of the International Alternative Right on the
mainstream on both sides of the Atlantic and provides case studies of its
real-world impact.
l The report goes beyond the racism of the Alternative Right and explores the
movement’s attitudes to gender, masculinity and sexuality.
l The report explores the iconography of the movement and the way in which the
movement has weaponised the internet.
l The report explores how the International Alternative Right interacts and crosses
over with other existing far right movements.
l This report exposes claims by a leading and extreme Alt-Right figure that he had
direct links to the Trump Administration.
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT
InTroduCTIon
With the rise of Donald Trump the world’s news themselves from the events despite regularly echoing
media turned its gaze towards a new far-right the same sentiments expressed on the demonstration
movement calling itself the alt-right. While and making excuses for the extremeness. And, of
researchers of the far right and anti-racists had been course, you had Donald Trump failing to adequately
watching the development of this loose movement for condemn the alt-right and its racist violence in the
some years, the Presidential campaign projected days following the events.
it onto the world stage.
In August 2016 Trump appointed Breitbart News WhaT’s InsIde?
Network head Steve Bannon to run his campaign – this
after Bannon had already proudly declared Breitbart is This report is the largest and most comprehensive
“the platform for the alt-right”. Then, soon after, Hillary yet produced on the international Alternative Right.
Clinton gave a speech in Reno, Nevada in which she Despite having its roots stretching back decades,
condemned Trump and his campaign, stating: the Alternative Right is a relatively new movement
and remains misunderstood. This report lays out
“These are race-baiting ideas, anti-Muslim
clearly HOPE not hate’s definition of the international
and anti-immigrant ideas, anti-women –– all
Alternative Right and its two distinct wings, the
key tenets making up an emerging racist
alt-right and alt-light. The report explains in detail
ideology known as the ‘Alt-Right.’ […] The de
how this movement functions and, most importantly,
facto merger between Breitbart and the Trump
why we feel it matters.
Campaign represents a landmark achievement
By taking a more international approach than existing
for the “Alt-Right.” A fringe element has
studies, many of which are overly Americentric, we
effectively taken over the Republican Party.”
show how genuinely transnational the Alternative
Right is by tracing the ideology back to its European
Of course, the reality was far more complex but while
far-right roots and profiling key European players
Clinton was clearly exaggerating for political effect,
and transatlantic links. We go beyond merely their
the emerging influence of this far-right movement was
racism and explore their attitudes to gender roles
indeed genuinely troubling. Within the alt-right itself,
and sexuality. Importantly, as this is an extremely
they certainly believed they were making a profound
broad movement, we also explain the nuances, fault
difference; Jason Reza Jorjani, a leading American
lines and divisions that mark out the two sides of
alt-right figure, described the alt-right as “the North
this movement, the hard-core alt-right and the less
American vanguard movement most responsible for
extreme but possibly more dangerous alt-light.
the electoral victory of President Trump.”
And, we outline and define the many obscure,
The movement made headlines around the world once esoteric and extreme movements that converge to
more in August 2017 when in Charlottesville, Virginia, make up the broad Alternative Right ranging from
an alt-right demonstration was marred in extreme European Identitarians, survivalists, neo-reactionaries
violence, one far-right activist driving a car into a crowd and the manosphere, to name just a few.
of anti-fascists, killing one and injuring many more.
However, what really marks this report out as unique
Newspapers and websites around the world were is that HOPE not hate got inside the international
plastered with appalling images of leading alt-right racist alt-right. Over the last year and half we
figures alongside Nazi flags, robed Klansmen and have infiltrated the very heart of the UK far-right,
shield and helmet clad activists flanked by heavily from which we have gained access to some of the
armed far-right militias. most important alt-right figures in the world.
In some ways that one day told the story of the The information we gleaned is spread across this
whole broad Alternative Right. You had self-identified report and the whole story is also told in detail.
alt-right figures rallying around what they see as This unprecedented access allows us to understand
their culture and identity; in this case, a statue the alt-right like never before and allows us to expose
of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee. The their often extreme and sometimes dangerous world.
demonstration saw the alt-right happy to interact This report includes bizarre and even funny details
and cooperate with traditional far-right and fascist about the esoteric and extreme UK movement, never
movements showing the huge areas of overlap. before seen photos of leading American alt-right
Also present were leading European figures and the figures such as Greg Johnson, and exposes staggering
iconography of the European Identitarian movement. links between the extreme racist fringe of the alt-right
You had extreme racism, antisemitism, homophobia and the very heart of the Trump administration.
and sexism coupled with extreme violence. In fusing in-depth research with inside information,
Then, in the wake of this chaos, the moderate end of this report is the most extensive yet produced on the
the Alternative Right, the so-called alt-light, distanced international Alternative Right.
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT reporT
Why Care abouT The alTernaTIve rIghT? a dIFFICulT Challenge
Many have dismissed the alt-right as little more The international Alternative Right possess a real
than traditional white supremacists, repackaged for challenge to its political rivals and the broad
the digital age with the addition of internet trolling. anti-racist movement. Whether it is anonymous
However at its core it is a meta-political project that, image boards like 4Chan, uncountable numbers
whilst drawing heavily on traditional far right, racist of anonymous Twitter profiles or endless closed
and white supremacist ideas, has emerged as a new Facebook groups full of false accounts, the vast
distinct movement. Hack through the heavy layers majority of Alternative Right activists are completely
of irony and juvenility and there is a much more unknown. This means the cost of far-right activism
dangerous project aimed at fundamentally altering the is becoming ever lower. Someone can be sat in
nature of society. a bedroom anywhere in the world and publish
This report explores the supposed influence of the antisemitic, sexist, racist or homophobic content
Alternative Right on the 2016 US election and traces relatively safe in the knowledge that the chances of
it from the campaign through to the presidency, there being repercussions, either social or legal, are
providing shocking new evidence of links between the extremely unlikely. For this reason, the people profiled
alt-right and the Trump administration. in this report are in some ways not typical Alternative
Right activists by the very fact that we know who
In the UK, we have seen members of the Alternative
they are.
Right gain influence and online followings that far
outstrip what most of the traditional far right could Being primarily online (although with offline outlets)
ever manage. Paul Joseph Watson, the Sheffield this movement is also genuinely transnational,
born alt-light vlogger, has amassed over one million perhaps to an un-paralleled extent in far-right terms.
subscribers on YouTube and his videos routinely clock The internet enables the rapid spread of ideas and
up hundreds of thousands of views. The moderate iconography cross borders. Activists in different
wing of the Alternative Right has also become countries can work together, share news, resources
increasingly influential upon right wing politics in the and funds, become aware of, be angered or inspired
UK, most notably Breitbart London pushing the United by the same world events or stories in real time.
Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) into ever-more The Alternative Right also lacks any single leader or
hardline territory. organisation and while there are prominent activists
and increasingly prominent organisations, like the
In Europe the impact of the Alternative Right
white nationalist AltRight Corporation or more
has, so far at least, not been as seismic as in
moderate Breitbart News Network, the movement
America. Yet, as this report outlines, the movement
remains a decentralized, many-headed hydra.
repackaged schools of European far right thought
and breathed life and youth back into formerly This makes many traditional anti-racist tactics
declining and dormant parts of the European right redundant and severely limits the effectiveness of
wing. People, organisations, websites and publishers those restricting their opposition to one country.
that have traditionally classed themselves as part Just as they work across borders, so too must the
of the European New Right have begun to rebrand anti-racist movement if it is to fight back.
themselves as alt-right and adopted the iconography
and modus operandi of this new international
movement.
Importantly, on both sides of the Atlantic the
Alternative Right has managed to galvanize a
whole new generation of far-right activists.
While a smattering of long term far right stalwarts
have adopted the moniker, the Alternative Right
is, at its core, driven by young people. It is hard to
remember a far-right movement that has succeeded in
attracting so many young activists, including many not
archetypically drawn to fringe right wing politics.
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT
seCTIon 1 – undersTandIng
The alTernaTIve rIghT
Richard Spencer at the Washington
DC Free Speech Rally June 2017
Photo: Stephen Melkisethian
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Section 1 – UnderStanding the alternative right
WhaT Is The alTernaTIve rIghT
In the press and broadcast media, the term “alt- Being a relatively new movement means that no
right” has been used to describe everything from consensual definition has yet emerged. However, this
hardcore nazis and Holocaust deniers through to endeavour is not aided by mistakes being made in
mainstream Republicans in the US and European existing attempts to understand the phenomenon.
right-wing populists. In particular, most analysis is overly Americacentric
It has been fetishised as a radically new phenomenon and ignores the crucial role of European ideas and
and simultaneously derided as nothing more than a movements in its development. Likewise, many in
rebranding of fascism. Europe have sought to find their own country’s version
Within the movement itself there is a fierce battle over of the movement, again misunderstanding that it is
who is and who isn’t deserving of the name. Some genuinely transnational.
vociferously reject the title yet comfortably fit within For these reasons we have decided to call this
most definitions of it while others desperately claim it phenomenon the International Alternative Right.
yet do not. Another widespread error, sometimes made by the
All of this begs the question: What is the alt-right? press, is a failure to distinguish between the different
strands within this movement. Broadly speaking the
movement can be split into two distinct branches: the
WhaT Is The alTernaTIve rIghT?
alt-right and the alt-light.
Given the aforementioned complexities and While both reject left/liberal democratic hegemony
confusions over the term “alt-right”, HOPE not hate and the rights, freedoms and/or affiliated movements
chooses instead to refer to this movement as the associated with it – including LGBT+, women’s and
“Alternative Right”. minority rights – and both are concerned with the
same set of issues – the left, globalisation, gender,
Broadly speaking the international “Alternative Right”
the west, equality, and so on – they view these issues
is an international set of groups and individuals,
through fundamentally different lenses.
operating primarily online though with offline outlets
whose core belief is that “white identity” is under The key dividing line is one of race versus culture, with
attack from pro-multicultural and liberal elites and the former the core concern of the alt-right and the
so-called “social justice warriors” (SJW) who allegedly latter that of the alt-light. All too often, people talk of
use “political correctness” to undermine Western the influence of the alt-right on the mainstream when
civilisation and the rights of white males. they actually mean the alt-light.
Put simply, the “Alternative Right” is a far right, anti- Using a more international approach, this report
globalist grouping that offers a radical “alternative” to reconfigures what the so-called alt-right is, how it
traditional/establishment conservatism. works and its internal variations.
The eclectic and disparate nature of its constituent
parts make for large areas of disagreement yet,
together, they are united around a core belief.
All reject what they believe to be left-wing, liberal
democratic, cultural hegemony in Western society and
the rights derived from it.
They reject what leading alt-right figure Jared Taylor
has called the “dangerous myth” of equality which, in
practice, means opposition to, inter alia, the rights of
women, LGBT+ and ethnic minorities or, if not these
rights, at the very least the movements themselves
that seek to advance those rights such as feminism.
Tracing the birth of the International Alternative Right
is no easy task. With no founding ideologue, text or
even organisation from which the movement sprang,
it has no single traceable start point.
It is an amorphous and mainly online political
movement composed of a vast array of blogs, vlogs,
websites and podcasts with only a few offline
organisations of note. As such the movement has no
single leader or even a dominant organisation but,
instead, resembles a many-headed hydra made up of
a collection of figures and groups, none of which fully
control the movement’s direction.
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The InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT
maIn ConsTITuenT parTs oF The
InTernaTIonal alTernaTIve rIghT
The International Alternative
Right is best understood as a
conglomeration of a number of
pre-existing social and political
movements. The The
It is, at its core, a convergence of
three broad groups: the European amerICan european
New Right and Identitarian
movement, the American Alternative
alTernaTIve neW rIghT
Right and Online Antagonistic
Communities.
The
Each of these movements has its rIghT
own history, structures, groups and
ideas and can, and in some cases, InTernaTIonal
does, continue to operate quite
independently of the Alternative alTernaTIve
Right but when the three overlap
and interact they produce what
rIghT
has come to be known as the
Alternative Right.
l The european new righT
is, broadly speaking, a current of
thought derived from the ideas
of people like the French far onlIne
right philosopher Alain de Benoist and his GRECE
movement (Groupement de recherche et d’études
anTagonIsTIC
pour la civilisation européenne) [Research and
Study Group for European Civilization] that was
founded in France in 1968, along with subsequent CommunITIes
strains of thought/activism such Guillaume Faye’s
Archeofuturism, Aleksandr Dugin’s Eurasianism and
the European Identitarian movement.
The European New Right movement sits comfortably
within the far right and its ideas are best
understood as a quest for the recovery of a mythical offensive symbolism or just espousing and voicing
“European Identity”. hatred and contempt).
They fundamentally reject the ideals of the These are found on all sides of the political spectrum
Enlightenment and of Christianity and fight back or can be non-political but where they converge
against “materialist” and modern ideologies from with the Alternative Right is when their antagonism
liberalism to socialism and, instead, posit a pan- is directed at what they perceive as the left/liberal
European nationalism and a world of ethnically political and social hegemony. This includes the
homogeneous communities. “Manosphere”, the right-wing alternative media and
the “Neoreactionary” movement, as well as the
l The american alTernaTive righT is a broad
more disparate racist and misogynist trolling
term that includes a multitude of radical or non-
subculture found within the broader culture of
conservative right wing and far right traditions.
trolling (the act of being deliberately offensive or
What they share is an offer of a right wing
provocative online with the aim provoking a hostile,
“alternative” to mainstream contemporary
negative, outraged reaction).
conservative Republicanism. Included here are
Trolling dates as far back as the late 1980s though it
elements of the American far right, nazi and white
has increasingly been instrumentalised by political
supremacist movements.
movements in the last decade and this right-
l online anTagonisTic communiTies are wing strain has been especially prevalent within
reactionary online communities built around communities on websites like 4chan, 8chan, Reddit,
various interests but who all engage in exclusionary, Voat, and Gab that share the various political leanings
antagonistic behaviour (be it through trolling, creating found within the alt-right.
10 | HOPE not hate