Q: What Should We Know About the Far Right Wing?

ADELE M. STAN

Editor, RightWingWatch.org, and columnist, The American Prospect

The definition of the term "far right wing" requires some parameters. Some would perceive that phrase as applying only to groups and individuals who are openly white supremacist, virulently anti-LGBTQ, or maliciously misogynistic in their self-representation. However, it would be fair to say that many of the groups that are part of the institutional right, which is now part of the Republican Party establishment, are also far-right.

For instance, the beliefs espoused by the Family Research Council are not all that distant, if at all, from those of people who identify with white nationalist groups.

And it's not just about U.S. politics. In Europe, American expertise is helping the far-right political parties rise in the hope of breaking up the European Union.

The key things to understand about this political movement are:

* It now resides at the heart of the nation's most powerful political institutions, starting with the presidency.

* It operates at multiple levels in spaces, including rightwing think tanks and organizing entities, chat rooms, YouTube channels, social media feeds, and websites of loosely organized anti-Semites, anti-Muslims, women-haters, white supremacists, and xenophobes. It is a global movement, fueled by dark money.

KATHLEEN BELEW

Assistant professor of history, University of Chicago, and author, Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America

When we talk about the "far right wing," we're talking about people all across the country, in rural areas as well as cities. The far right...