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The Rise of Ecofascism: Climate Change and the Far Right
The world faces a climate crisis and an ascendant far right. Are these trends related? How does the far right think about the environment, and what openings does the coming crisis present for them?
This incisive new book traces the long history of far-right environmentalism and explores how it is adapting to the contemporary world. It argues that the extreme right, after years of denying the reality of climate change, are now showing serious signs of reversing their strategy. A new generation of far-right activists has realized that impending environmental catastrophe represents their best chance yet for a return to relevance. In reality, however, their noxious blend of conspiracy, hatred and violence is no solution at all: it is the 'eco-socialism of fools'. Only a real commitment to climate justice can save us and stop the far right in its tracks.
No-one interested in the struggle against right-wing extremism and the crusade for climate justice can afford to miss this trenchant critique of burgeoning ecofascism.
This incisive new book traces the long history of far-right environmentalism and explores how it is adapting to the contemporary world. It argues that the extreme right, after years of denying the reality of climate change, are now showing serious signs of reversing their strategy. A new generation of far-right activists has realized that impending environmental catastrophe represents their best chance yet for a return to relevance. In reality, however, their noxious blend of conspiracy, hatred and violence is no solution at all: it is the 'eco-socialism of fools'. Only a real commitment to climate justice can save us and stop the far right in its tracks.
No-one interested in the struggle against right-wing extremism and the crusade for climate justice can afford to miss this trenchant critique of burgeoning ecofascism.
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First published January 26, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 24, 2022
In the past labelling somebody ecofascist was a common slur against supporters of liberal to left-wing green policies that threatened things certain other people held dear, gas-guzzling cars, the right to pollute, or eat meat etc. More recently militant veganism and an investment in tackling environmental concerns have ceased to be a consistent marker of an individual's particular political affiliations, and the term ecofascism usually refers to groups that have been appearing within the governmental and non-governmental far right, especially in the Global North.
Sam Moore and Alex Roberts are not attempting a sustained study of these specific organisations or movements. Their focus is on examining the many possible “ecofascist” futures that might emerge from a range of contemporary far-right and alt-right stances on ecology - formulated in response to, or blatantly exploiting, rapidly-increasing climate systems breakdown. Moore and Roberts make it clear these are disparate groupings, not necessarily united in their approaches or their analysis. But all broadly supportive of racial hierarchies in which “whiteness” comes first. Moore and Roberts are not disinterested researchers, they’re equally activists for whom it’s necessary to be able to recognise these groups from their claims, and to trace the roots and possible consequences of their political perspectives in order to better combat them.
Part of what Moore and Roberts want to explore centres on links between right-wing politics, racial domination and appeals to nature. They begin with an historical overview, going back to colonialism and how imperial projects were justified as enforcing a ‘natural’ order or a defence of nature under threat. But crucially Moore and Roberts are interested in how these kinds of perspectives were then deployed or weaponised to justify political actions: the ‘one-drop’ rule, eugenics and anxieties over extinction; Malthus’s ideas about overpopulation with its distinctions between the ‘civilised’ and the ’savage’ shoring up arguments against giving relief to Ireland during the Great Famine, as likely deaths could be represented as nature restoring balance by removing the “surplus poor”; Madison Grant and the appropriation of indigenous land in America in the name of conservation and then preservation. Moore and Roberts trace these kinds of justifications and appeals to nature through to organised fascism in the French Greenshirt movement; places like Italy under Mussolini and beyond; through to versions of right-to-far-right nature politics currently in circulation. All of which are intertwined with particular manifestations of capitalism.
In the later sections of their discussion Moore and Roberts look both at contemporary trends and to the future. This brings in debates around eco-authoritarianist responses to climate change versus the more democratic through to an outline of varieties of climate change denialism and modified acceptance: adaptation versus mitigation; securitization, walls and borders; the championing of fossil fuel extraction and oil industries by Germany’s AfD, Norway’s Progress Party; to Trump’s presidency, QAnon and wellness culture; to the online alt-right; and the New Ecology movement and Marine Le Pen’s attempts to construct a narrative linking ecological concerns with the need to fend off “undesirable” migrants.
I found this accessible, often illuminating – I knew very little about the influence of American pre-WW2, eugenicist and anti-immigration policies on ideas adopted by Nazi Germany for example. But it could be a little dense at times, mostly because Moore and Roberts are trying to cover a lot of ground in less than 150 pages, which also means some of their underlying arguments are slightly obscured or overly superficial – although lots of pointers provided for further reading. But I also found their territory fascinating, relevant and sometimes, in terms of the outlines of the types of economic and social stressors that led to the adoption or development of essentially-racist right-wing policies and far-right campaigns, chillingly familiar.
Rating: 3.5
Sam Moore and Alex Roberts are not attempting a sustained study of these specific organisations or movements. Their focus is on examining the many possible “ecofascist” futures that might emerge from a range of contemporary far-right and alt-right stances on ecology - formulated in response to, or blatantly exploiting, rapidly-increasing climate systems breakdown. Moore and Roberts make it clear these are disparate groupings, not necessarily united in their approaches or their analysis. But all broadly supportive of racial hierarchies in which “whiteness” comes first. Moore and Roberts are not disinterested researchers, they’re equally activists for whom it’s necessary to be able to recognise these groups from their claims, and to trace the roots and possible consequences of their political perspectives in order to better combat them.
Part of what Moore and Roberts want to explore centres on links between right-wing politics, racial domination and appeals to nature. They begin with an historical overview, going back to colonialism and how imperial projects were justified as enforcing a ‘natural’ order or a defence of nature under threat. But crucially Moore and Roberts are interested in how these kinds of perspectives were then deployed or weaponised to justify political actions: the ‘one-drop’ rule, eugenics and anxieties over extinction; Malthus’s ideas about overpopulation with its distinctions between the ‘civilised’ and the ’savage’ shoring up arguments against giving relief to Ireland during the Great Famine, as likely deaths could be represented as nature restoring balance by removing the “surplus poor”; Madison Grant and the appropriation of indigenous land in America in the name of conservation and then preservation. Moore and Roberts trace these kinds of justifications and appeals to nature through to organised fascism in the French Greenshirt movement; places like Italy under Mussolini and beyond; through to versions of right-to-far-right nature politics currently in circulation. All of which are intertwined with particular manifestations of capitalism.
In the later sections of their discussion Moore and Roberts look both at contemporary trends and to the future. This brings in debates around eco-authoritarianist responses to climate change versus the more democratic through to an outline of varieties of climate change denialism and modified acceptance: adaptation versus mitigation; securitization, walls and borders; the championing of fossil fuel extraction and oil industries by Germany’s AfD, Norway’s Progress Party; to Trump’s presidency, QAnon and wellness culture; to the online alt-right; and the New Ecology movement and Marine Le Pen’s attempts to construct a narrative linking ecological concerns with the need to fend off “undesirable” migrants.
I found this accessible, often illuminating – I knew very little about the influence of American pre-WW2, eugenicist and anti-immigration policies on ideas adopted by Nazi Germany for example. But it could be a little dense at times, mostly because Moore and Roberts are trying to cover a lot of ground in less than 150 pages, which also means some of their underlying arguments are slightly obscured or overly superficial – although lots of pointers provided for further reading. But I also found their territory fascinating, relevant and sometimes, in terms of the outlines of the types of economic and social stressors that led to the adoption or development of essentially-racist right-wing policies and far-right campaigns, chillingly familiar.
Rating: 3.5
December 24, 2022
A rapid-fire tour of the various ways both historically and at present fascist and other forms of far-right politics have intersected with ecological politics, revealing a much more frightening story than simply climate-denialism that has been traditionally associated with the ecological politics of the right. In fact from the late nineteenth century through the Nazis, down to the Sierra Club and today's mass murderers in places like El Paso or Christchurch, there have been many who saw ecological concerns as a justification for the politics of the far right, specifically with a view to preserving the purity and availability of nature and natural resources for their own preferred ethno-racial faction.
Toward the end, they sketch out two scenarios for how far right ecologism is likely to evolve: "Fossilized Reaction," which will continue to deny climate change in order to preserve the right of white people to consume as much as possible; and second, "Batteries, Bombs, and Borders," entailing the geopolitically fraught process of securing the resources for a green energy transition that will ensure hegemonic continuity in an era of renewed multipolar competition. In the end, they believe the first scenario has a sell-by date, since denialism is steadily becoming less and less plausible, and that therefore the BBB scenario in essence amounts to political forecast. What both these strains have in common is a normative racial vitalism in which the dominance that capitalism afford is affirmed and naturalized while its destructiveness toward nature is criticized. The appeal to "nature" as a normative political guide also runs through much of the ecofascist impulse.
Toward the end, they sketch out two scenarios for how far right ecologism is likely to evolve: "Fossilized Reaction," which will continue to deny climate change in order to preserve the right of white people to consume as much as possible; and second, "Batteries, Bombs, and Borders," entailing the geopolitically fraught process of securing the resources for a green energy transition that will ensure hegemonic continuity in an era of renewed multipolar competition. In the end, they believe the first scenario has a sell-by date, since denialism is steadily becoming less and less plausible, and that therefore the BBB scenario in essence amounts to political forecast. What both these strains have in common is a normative racial vitalism in which the dominance that capitalism afford is affirmed and naturalized while its destructiveness toward nature is criticized. The appeal to "nature" as a normative political guide also runs through much of the ecofascist impulse.
October 21, 2022
Absolutely brilliant. As someone decidedly lacking in STEM, this essay makes these terms and ideologies "easily digestible" regarding understanding the concepts. In the last few months since I read it, Sam Moore's words have crossed my mind time and time again.
January 9, 2023
Overall I enjoyed this book.
Moore provides a well-researched and scarily poignant fly-over of climate change’s role within the fascist narrative. The middle section is definitely the strongest thanks to some clearly structured and concise arguments. However, I found it was bookended with some overwritten, unnecessary ramblings which felt like an academic competition of how many ‘isms’ could be referenced. That being said, it’s still a super short book that packs some serious punch in its research and analysis and contemplates some interesting futures with a hopeful call-to-action.
Would recommend to anyone with an interest in climate change, philosophy, sociology, history or politics/identity politics.
Moore provides a well-researched and scarily poignant fly-over of climate change’s role within the fascist narrative. The middle section is definitely the strongest thanks to some clearly structured and concise arguments. However, I found it was bookended with some overwritten, unnecessary ramblings which felt like an academic competition of how many ‘isms’ could be referenced. That being said, it’s still a super short book that packs some serious punch in its research and analysis and contemplates some interesting futures with a hopeful call-to-action.
Would recommend to anyone with an interest in climate change, philosophy, sociology, history or politics/identity politics.
August 14, 2022
Hyvä kirja ekokriisiä kiihdyttävän valkoisen ylivallan kulttuurin historian juurista ja siitä, miten historia toistaa itseään. Selkeää infoa siitä, miten pohjoisessa asuville vaaleille ihmisille on oikeutettu resurssien riisto paremmuuteen perustuen.
May 31, 2023
The authors give a lot of examples of past and current events to prove that talking about left and right in politics nowadays is non-sensical. The reality of ecofascism as a social and political phenomenon shows how shortsighted and dangerous such dichotomous separation can be.
January 27, 2024
A prescient warning.
December 14, 2025
A brief overview of environmentalism and far right extremism, focusing on the failed alt-right movement of the 2010s.
December 1, 2022
Quick read. The book is more about the right’s—from neoliberals to accelerationists— reactions to the environment and climate change than the actual rise of ecofascism. Imo, what they qualify as ecofascism is too broad. However, I still learned some new things, they didn’t overcatastrophize, and the book is well cited. I recommend to those who are interested in the politics of the right, climate change and predictive analysis.
January 7, 2026
"Climate systems breakdown is no local problem, nor can it be solved by force. The consequences of failure cannot easily be made to affect a particular othered group. It will not be solved by anything the far right has historically proposed. But far-right politics has, since its inception, been itemately involved in the defence of capitalism, and the most important cuase of climate systems breakdown - the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels - is, in the words of Andreas Malm, "not a sideshow to bourgeois democracy . . . it is the material form of contemporary capitalism." Climate systems breakdown puts the structure of capitalism at risk and thus also the social order that the far right is committed to defend" (4).
Three kinds
- far right parties of environmental authoritarianism
- younger and more agile movements uninterested in immediate electoral success
- 'ecofascist' terrorists like those who carried out Christchurch mosque attack (5)
White Skin, Black Fuel - "focuses on climate denialists and the racial politics that informs it" but does not focus more broadly on "nature politics on the far right: its concern with particular places, natural features, food culture, gender politics, overpopulation, energy security, and ideas of racial and ethnic identity (8)
"politics is the struggle to produce or reproduce a set of social roles and relations." (13)
far rigth in this book is "those forms of political behaviour which work on or advocate for the reproduction of capitalist social roles and relations on the basis of ethnic nationalism, racism, xenophobia or antisemitism, often through the application of violent means at odds with principles of formal equality and thus at least publicly unavailable to the liberal state" (13)
Capitalocene vs. Anthropocene
Richard Spencer: plant more trees, save the seas, deport refugees
Golden Dawn's Green Wing: environment is the cradle of our Race (landscape as a proxy for Greek civilization) 74)
"Whatever happens with the climate, it will always be made worse by the arrival of far-right authoritarianism. The politics of exclusion, racism, parochialism, hierarchy and conspiracy were fundamentally inadequate to the challenges that society faced at every point in its entire history. There is no reason to suspect they might suddenly be useful in the future" (129) - hilarious.
Solidarity is one solution - my demand for cheap food was always against another person's need for livable wages (132)
Three kinds
- far right parties of environmental authoritarianism
- younger and more agile movements uninterested in immediate electoral success
- 'ecofascist' terrorists like those who carried out Christchurch mosque attack (5)
White Skin, Black Fuel - "focuses on climate denialists and the racial politics that informs it" but does not focus more broadly on "nature politics on the far right: its concern with particular places, natural features, food culture, gender politics, overpopulation, energy security, and ideas of racial and ethnic identity (8)
"politics is the struggle to produce or reproduce a set of social roles and relations." (13)
far rigth in this book is "those forms of political behaviour which work on or advocate for the reproduction of capitalist social roles and relations on the basis of ethnic nationalism, racism, xenophobia or antisemitism, often through the application of violent means at odds with principles of formal equality and thus at least publicly unavailable to the liberal state" (13)
Capitalocene vs. Anthropocene
Richard Spencer: plant more trees, save the seas, deport refugees
Golden Dawn's Green Wing: environment is the cradle of our Race (landscape as a proxy for Greek civilization) 74)
"Whatever happens with the climate, it will always be made worse by the arrival of far-right authoritarianism. The politics of exclusion, racism, parochialism, hierarchy and conspiracy were fundamentally inadequate to the challenges that society faced at every point in its entire history. There is no reason to suspect they might suddenly be useful in the future" (129) - hilarious.
Solidarity is one solution - my demand for cheap food was always against another person's need for livable wages (132)
February 6, 2025
aside from the tucker carlson reference, this is even more important to read now. the contours of the far right are getting darker and more defined, and we avoid them at our peril.
May 2, 2022
Go read!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews