In the 1930s, the ideas of the extreme right led to the destruction of democracy. A century later it returns with force thanks to its ability to exploit the fears and shortcomings of a fragile society.
This story could begin in Briviesca, a municipality of Burgos with 6,000 inhabitants. Located in a communications hub, the city prospered and in the 70s inaugurated an industrial estate with large companies. The demographics were generous until 2008, when the real estate bubble burst and the economy suffered. Many people had to leave. Today in the industrial estate there are small companies and agricultural warehouses. Briviesca is a monumental and open city. But in July 2023, the PP and Vox government canceled “for technical reasons” a theatrical performance about Antoni Benaiges, the republican teacher who taught in a neighboring town until he was shot by the Francoists in 1936 and who inspired the film “ “The teacher who promised the sea.”
This story could also begin 500 kilometers away from Briviesca. In Manresa, an industrial city from the textile era, with a past of splendor as reflected in Cal Jorba, an “art deco” building that housed a department store. Today the city has 78,000 inhabitants and a demographic that took a spectacular leap in the 2000s. Today almost 20% of the population is immigrants. And its presence is noticeable in the old town, as occurs in other medium-sized cities in the interior of Catalonia. 2008 was also key for Manresa. The crisis took away the local savings bank, around which a diversified economy pivoted. Last weekend, Aliança Catalana, an Islamophobic party that feeds on independence disillusionment, obtained 9.4% of the vote in the Parliamentary elections.
Everywhere there is a before and after 2008. The before are the years of happy consumption and easy mortgages. The after is precarious work and the loss of security. Sociologists say anxiety over loss of status changes people. Those who have reached somewhere, no matter how small, are terrified of falling one step lower. When economic security is threatened, cultural traits, nationality, ethnicity, religion… take on value.
The extreme right has distant roots. But the 2008 crisis was its European launch pad and the wave of refugees of 2015-16, the trigger. To abandon marginality and achieve normalization, its theorists prepared thoroughly. They read Antonio Gramsci and appropriated his theories. To win you had to seek social acceptance, win cultural hegemony.
Goodbye then to shaved heads and Nazi symbols. The priority was to dominate the conversation on social networks, declare war on “politically correct”, feminism, anti-racism and LGBTQI. And promise easy solutions to complex problems.
In the postwar years, traditional conservatism and the center left had built a consensus for doing politics. The far right taught conservatives to radicalize. To break the rules of the game and surprise. To turn the adversary into an enemy and hold him responsible for everything. To divide the world between us and them.
The councilors of Briviesca canceled Maestro Benaiges’ play because someone had previously demonized the Republic of 1936-39. For Aliança voters in Manresa, the young people of Maghreb origin who frequent the center mark the advent of what is known in their environment as the “Great Replacement”, the replacement of natives by newcomers according to a hidden plan (in their particular version, instrumented from Madrid).
Should we be concerned about the extreme right? From historical experience, yes. In the 1930s his ideas destroyed democracy and led to National Socialism and Fascism. In contrast, today’s far right is neither warmongering nor inciting action (for now). But it is ambiguous in its aims and in its acceptance of democracy, which it combats liberal values.
As a movement it is diverse. But they all share the cult of the past and tradition, hostility to criticism and fear of difference (Islamophobia is a distinctive feature). They believe in conspiracies and have a tormented relationship with femininity. They hate feminist policies, to which they contrast family protection policies and exalt women as mothers.
No country today is immune to the extreme right. Its greatest victory has been to ensure that its priorities (immigration, security) are on the agenda of all governments and are part of common sense. All this in increasingly diverse and complex societies. They have reached government in Italy and Finland and share it in Sweden and the Netherlands.
From the magma of groups and politicians, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, stands out. She has made a meteoric emergence into European politics. His is the project to outsource immigration management in camps in third countries. After June 9, she will be a key figure in the European Union. Víktor Orbán is less sophisticated but more ambitious. He has turned Hungary into an authoritarian country. He slanders the EU and blackmails it to get its money. He shares a table and secrets with Putin and is convinced that he will save the continent from decline.
The European extreme right lives in a sweet state of waiting. From the results of June 9. And the November presidential elections in the US. A victory for Donald Trump, a reference politician for many European leaders and true leader of the pack, would give a special highlight to this sleepless 2024.
