Living Right: Far-Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe

by Agnieszka Pasieka

A sobering look at the seductive power of fascist ideas for the young

Radical nationalism is on the rise in Europe and throughout the world. Living Right provides an in-depth account of the ideas and practices that are driving the varied forms of far-right activism by young people from all walks of life, revealing how these social movements offer the promise of comradery, purpose, and a moral calling to self-sacrifice, and demonstrating how far-right ideas are understood and lived in ways that speak to a variety of experiences.

In this eye-opening book, Agnieszka Pasieka draws on her own sometimes harrowing fieldwork among Italian, Polish, and Hungarian militant youths, painting unforgettable portraits of students, laborers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and activists from well-off middle class backgrounds who have all found a nurturing home in the far right. Providing an in-depth account of radical nationalist communities and networks that are taking root across Europe, she shows how the simultaneous orientation of these groups toward the local and the transnational is a key to their success. With a focus on far-right morality that challenges commonly held ideas about the right, Pasieka describes how far-right movements afford opportunities to the young to be active members of tightly bonded comradeships while sharing in a broader project with global ramifications.

Required reading for anthropologists and anyone concerned about the resurgence of far-right militancy today, Living Right sheds necessary light on the forces that have made the growing appeal of fascist idealism for young people one of the most alarming trends of our time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

304 pages, Hardcover

Published November 12, 2024

Reviews

[Kristine Lyckander · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for my second year in my anthropology bachelor.

I am happy that I got a deep dive into an anthropological project that studies people Pasieka consider as subjected to"reverse exoticism" in academia, referring to the people we live close with, yet feel so different to. However, I have to admit that although I surely needed a reminder of the forces of fascism, how they appeal to different people and why it is important not to assume anything about far-right militants political ideas, I find myself more intrigued by projects where I can learn something new from the people that have been studied. Reassuringly, I was not appealed by any of the militants ideas and world-views (except for their scepticism to capitalism and liberalism, which I was already grounded in), and believe that prevented this book from completely getting to me. Whereas when I learn new things about people that I have not thought about before, opening a portal to a distinct way of thinking that I was blinded from before due to a cultural, political or social bias, I become far more invested. Anyways, I think Pasieka's work is incredibly valuable and should be used in the necessity to foster understanding between groups in society that think very differently.

[Dorien dh · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thorough understanding of a repugnant other.