Alt-lite

Not to be confused with New Right.

The alt-lite, also known as the alt-light[1] and the new right,[2] is a loosely defined right-wing political movement whose members regard themselves as separate from both mainstream conservatism and the far-right, white nationalist alt-right. The concept is primarily associated with the United States, where it emerged in 2017. The term remained in vogue during the Trump administration, as observers assessed all sources for right-wing populism, but has mostly faded from popular discourse as of 2024.

According to extremism scholar George Hawley, alt-lite was coined by white nationalists as a pejorative, in an attempt to exclude more moderate figures from the alt-right.[3] The term alt-right had previously included "anyone that fell on the right of the political spectrum but had major problems with the conservative movement", including populists and libertarians.[4] After the term alt-right was successfully reclaimed by white nationalists, previous adherents abandoned the term, and started calling themselves populists or civic nationalists.[5]

  1. ^ Marantz, Andrew (June 6, 2017). "The alt-right branding war has torn the movement in two". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference newsweek was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Hawley 2017, p. 143.
  4. ^ Hawley 2017, p. 139.
  5. ^ Fowlie, Craig (May 13, 2022). "American Anti-Fascism Comes of Age". Fascism. 11 (1): 139–144. doi:10.1163/22116257-bja10033. ISSN 2211-6257. S2CID 248926436. Burley is an acute observer of the range of far-right ideological positions, organising strategies and symbolism, and carefully delineates the splits within the movement between the white supremacist factions, the civic nationalist so-called 'alt-lite', and the patriot movement of militias and paramilitary groups