POL340 The Global History and Politics of the Far Right
Semester 1 (15 credits)
Assessment: 1, 40% Short
Research Essay (1500 words), 2 60%, Exam
Convenor: Dr Rick Saull
Far right forms of
politics have emerged as a significant political current in recent years - be
it the dominance of Viktor Orban's Fidesz party in Hungary to the election
successes of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in India. Much
of the popular commentary on these developments has tended to ignore the
longer-term presence and historical significance of this form of politics or
reduce any historical reference to inter-war fascism. However, the far right
has a longer historical pedigree - beyond that of (European) historical fascism
- and can be seen to reflect a significant subaltern, if reactionary,
ideo-political current in popular, mass and democratic forms of politics across
a range of different if connected geopolitical locales from the late nineteenth
century onwards. This module examines how and why a distinct far right and
'anti-Conservative' form of politics emerged and, in particular, how and why
the changing character of international relations - as revealed in the
structures of geopolitics and capitalist world economy - have shaped the
evolving ideo-political character of the far right. The module will do this
through an examination of several historical and contemporary case studies
encompassing different expressions of the far right north/south and east/west.
