The New Authoritarians: Convergence on the Right

by David Renton

The eighteen months between June 2016 and the end of 2017 saw the victory of Leave in Britain’s EU referendum, the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, and unprecedented support for Marine Le Pen of the Front National in her campaign for the same office in France. Nearly a decade after the great financial crash, it is these figures and the alarmingly confident and radical version of right-wing politics they represent that have gained the initiative over a moribund center and a still weak left.

But what exactly does this new reality represent? While some argue that we are hurtling towards fascism in a replay of the 1930s, and others insist there is little substantial change from “politics as usual,” Renton takes a different and more nuanced view. In country after country, under the clouds of economic austerity and post-9/11 Islamophobia, we have seen a convergence between traditional conservatives, the authoritarian far-right, and previously marginal fascists. The result is a new, still emergent, and deeply troubling form of right-wing radicalism, at once more moderate than classical fascism in its political strategy, yet indulgent of the racism of its most extreme components.

 

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Social Issues, Sociology, Social Justice

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2019

About the author

David "Dave" Renton is a British academic historian and barrister.

He was born in London in 1972. His great aunt was the marxist historian, Dona Torr. His grandfather was the shoe designer Kurt Geiger. One uncle was an activist in Equity, the actors' trade union, while another was the Conservative MP Tim Renton, Baron Renton of Mount Harry. He was educated at all-boys private boarding school Eton College where he became a member of the Labour Party. He then studied history at St John's College, University of Oxford.

Renton received his PhD from the University of Sheffield for a thesis on fascism and anti-fascism in Britain after the Second World War ( The attempted revival of British Fascism: Fascism and Anti-Fascism, 1945-51 ) that was turned into the book Fascism, Anti-Fascism and the 1940s . He also became an academic historian and sociologist, teaching at universities including Nottingham Trent, Edge Hill and Rhodes University and Johannesburg University in South Africa.

Since 2009 Renton has practised as a barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London and has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases, especially concerning trade union rights and the protection of free speech.

He was for twenty-two years (1991-2013) a member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and he has published over twenty books on fascism, anti-fascism, and the politics of the left.

Reviews

[Wouter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting overview of how far right political movements in both Europe and the US have developed in the past 80 or so years, but I disagreed with some of the arguments Benton posed. Maybe it's because I read this about a week after fascists stormed the Capitol, but Renton insists, for example, that Trump isn't a fascist because he plays by the electoral book, when I think it's become quite clear that this is not the case. I do agree with his claim that the left needs to actively reject the far right's racism and misogyny as well as neoliberalism as a whole to combat the far right, but I'd expected Renton to go into much more detail about this.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for understanding the different far right forces and their breakthroughs. It’s a bit outdated, being written in 2017 and doesn’t include the major growth and more right wing. Especially the chapter on Trump, with 2nd term of presidency somehow even more racist, violent and authoritarian.

[Curt Buchmeier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the Allied victory in WWII the right-wing, conservative-leaning politicians, in both the US and Western Europe, were in descent. For a couple of years after the war, the success of egalitarianism and many social programs which led to an historic rise in the standard of living for millions in the US put the classic right wingers, or conservatives, on the defensive. While some extreme right wing political parties were no longer viable in most countries and, indeed, illegal in some, right-wing politicians in the US, UK and France began to focus on “the Godless Commies” as the enemy for the next several decades. When, in 1989, the evil empire of the USSR collapsed and the Berlin wall came down, the far right was in the wilderness again. Now, 75 years after the defeat of fascism, this book poses the serious question; are we now, in 2020, on the verge of seeing authoritarianism, even neo-fascism, re-emerging to take power again? If so, what can be done about it? Renton does a service in this book that I greatly appreciate. In simple terms and detailed research, he lays out the basic story of the rise of the far, or “Alt”, right, primarily in the UK, the US and France.
We hear the term fascist bandied about frequently these days. I doubt many can describe a fascist, I know I could not before I read this book. Google and Webster have their definitions. I like how Renton lays it out. Fascism has these historic and primary components; A leadership Cult, An extreme hatred of Socialism and Liberalism, A ”Mission to Restore” society to a previous state (real or imagined), Fascists need enemies and/or groups in society to focus their hatred on and Fascists utilize rallies, marches and similar to inspire, foment and intimate violence against their enemies. Fascists have in the past gained power democratically only to criminalize rival political parties and dissent, control the press and install an authoritarian head of state. And, as their primary goal, fascists are against any measures to re-distribute wealth downwards. The last is important. I had never heard it described in this way, but I agree with it. Fascists believe that there is a superior class of people in society that are better then and superior to the common peoples and that this segment of peoples deserve, indeed are entitled to, more wealth and privilege than the masses.
In this book, Renton lays out the three distinct segments and their differences of the political right. The moderates and conservatives on the right, as opposed to the “Alt-Right”, seek to obtain power thru democratic means at local and national levels and do NOT seek to change the systems of gaining office, they do NOT worship the state nor do they typically go in for a Cult of Personality, knee-jerk loyalty to a leader (you may be asking what about Reagan and Thatcher? Fair question. In my opinion, were they candidates today, they would not be popular with the Alt-Right movement) and, lastly, they do not seek to transcend class.
If any of this makes sense to you and if you are interested in a detailed, professionally researched study of the far-right in these times, I urge you to read this book.

[Fionn McGorry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting and informative read giving a thorough taxonomy of the radical right in three interesting geographies: the US, the UK and France, as well as an interesting examination of their international links.

[BT · Rating 2 out of 5]

Renton argues that the Trump-era far right is not “actually” fascist, but a novel style of authoritarianism that has been developing worldwide, using the details of other fascist parties in history to support this. I think his argument is fundamentally sound, even if I don’t fully agree with his conclusion

All of that is overshadowed by the fact that Renton is… frankly, a pretty bad writer. He cannot frame his onslaught of historical facts into a traceable story, making it difficult to keep track of what he’s trying to say

In addition, some of his minor musings and observations are just factually incorrect (for example, he casually throws in “The Clash used to be a nazi band” without any argument as though this is common knowledge and not just speculative horse shit). It worries me that some of the larger details suffer from a similar disregard/ignorance/whatever

Overall, I’m glad I read it, I just hope I can find a more competent approach to the subject

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've only become interested in politics in the last few years, so this is a new type of book for me. While I can't claim to fully understand what I read, I think it was useful. It helped me understand shifts in conservative and right-wing politics. It was particularly interesting to read just following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It's a short book, but it took me a while to read because my mind kept wandering. Partly because I sometimes read before bed, but partly because I started to think about the recent political situation in the U.S. I would read this book again. Thank you to Haymarket Books for offering this ebook for free.

[Prism · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was prepared to give three stars, but the counters to the far right presented in the conclusion are actually useful and achievable goals, unlike many of this book’s ilk, and that bumped it up to 4

Overall good analysis of what powered the far right in 2016, but feels a little outdated now given all the developments in the far right in 2020, such as the huge normalization of right wing conspiracy theories since COVID and the growth of right wing street politics that occurred over the summer in response to anti racist demonstrations.

[Benja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful history and I definitely follow the idea of a convergence on the far right. I know that Renton is a scholar of fascism however I just don't really see the usefulness in distinguishing fascism from other aspects of the far right in the way he does outside of more purely theoretical exercises though.

[Allison Widder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very useful for its history outlines and conclusory recommendations for leftists moving forward but reading this in late 2024 hits different because arguing that Trump is not a fascist aged *very* poorly

[Malik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative. Prior knowledge on European political parties is necessary for a more cohesive reading experience.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Posed a lot of good questions and made me think on these issues from a new perspective. Little exhausting to read considering what’s happened in the last few months, but overall worth it.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really torn on this review. Read this in 2022 and it was written in 2018, wild to see what was wrong and what was right.

[Carlijn Brugging · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, which also contributes on a conceptual level to a better understanding of contemporary right-wing extremist developments

[Nindele]

Del TFG

[James M · Rating 4 out of 5]

At this point, I think his thesis was a bit optimistic and missed the mark given everything that had transpired since it was written. I think, however, there a lot of value in this book that lies in its thorough accounting of the parts of American political landscape that brought us to this point. Worth a read.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Renton surveys many different right-wing movements and shows how the far right has converged with center-right conservatives to create an electorally effective movement. He mainly focused his attention on Brexit, Donald Trump, and Marine Le Pen, but also touched slightly on other political shifts such as Bolsanaro in Brazil and Modi in India.

As someone who didn't know much about politics outside of the United States, a lot of the book was highly informative. Given how active the far-right has been recently, I would have liked to see an updated analysis. For instance, he makes the argument that many of the people who are often called fascists (such as Donald Trump) are better categorized as non-fascist far-right, set apart because of their focus on electoral victory while (typically) eschewing street violence. I wonder how Trump's response to the George Floyd protests ("When the looting starts, the shooting starts"), his Proud Boy statements ("Stand back and stand by"), as well as the overall election fiasco (including the January 6th event), would influence his analysis on Trump. I know Robert O. Paxton, another scholar on fascism, has been hesitant to describe Trump as a fascist until the January 6th Insurrection: https://web.archive.org/web/202103122...

I'd recommend this book to people concerned about the recent growth in far-right elements and who want to better understand their origin and possible future.