How the far right went global

Description

How The Far Right Went Global Fascism has never really gone away—but it has changed shape. From the street-level racism and open organising of the British National Party in 1990s East London to today’s globalised far right, this episode traces how authoritarian politics have moved from the margins to the mainstream. Host Nick Dearden draws on personal experience of anti-fascist organising, and is joined by Seema Syeda from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and co-author of Creeping Fascism, and Luke Cooper, author of Authoritarian Contagion and academic at the London School of Economics. Their conversation explores how the far right has built international networks, institutions, and narratives that now feel disturbingly normal. They dig into why “fascism” remains a contested term on the left, what’s genuinely new about the current moment, and what can still be done to resist it. NOTE: We apologise for the blurry video on Luke Cooper - thanks for bearing with us as we navigate adding video instead of just audio! Luckily his contributions are as clear as ever ;) In This Episode The rise and fall of the BNP, street fascism, and the mass anti-racist movements that defeated it Debates about whether “fascism” is the right label for today’s authoritarian politics Key similarities and differences between past and present far-right movements What a Reform government might actually look like in power, and whether figures like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson represent fundamentally different threats The “Unite the Kingdom” rally and what it reveals about the current far right Featured Organisation: No to Hassockfield Facebook: The No to Hassockfield Campaign Instagram: @no2hassockfield Twitter/X: @No2Hassockfield Things we discussed Creeping Fascism by Neil Faulkner with Samir Dathi, Phil Hearse and Seema Syeda. Authoritarian Contagion by Luke Cooper A Town Within: Visiting Baqa’a Refugee Camp by Madihah Karim What happened when I met my Islamophobic troll by Hussein Kesvani The law of the jungle by Ni