Global Heating and the Australian Far Right by Richards, Imogen; Brinn, Gearóid; Jones, Callum;

Short description:

Global Heating and the Australian Far Right examines the environmental politics of far-right actors and movements in Australia, exploring their broader political context and responses to climate change.

Long description:

Global Heating and the Australian Far Right examines the environmental politics of far-right actors and movements in Australia, exploring their broader political context and responses to climate change.

The book traces the development of far-right pseudo-environmentalism and territorial politics, from colonial genocide and Australian nationalism to extreme-right political violence. Through a critical analysis of news and social media, it reveals how denialist and resignatory attitudes towards climate change operate alongside extreme right accelerationism, in a wider Australian political context characterised by reactionary fossil fuel politics and neoliberal New Right climate change agendas. The authors scrutinise the manipulation of environmental politics by contemporary Australian far- and extreme-right actors in cross-national online media. They also assess the political-ideological context of the contemporary far right, addressing intergovernmental approaches to security threats connected to the far right and climate change, and the emergence of radical environmentalist traditions in ‘New Catastrophism’ literature. The conclusion synthesises key insights, analysing the mainstreaming of ethnonationalist and authoritarian responses to global heating, and potential future trajectories of far-right movements exploiting the climate crisis. It also emphasises the necessity for radical political alternatives to counter the far right’s exploitation of climate change.

This book will be of interest to researchers of climate change, the far right, neoliberal capitalism, extremism and Australian politics.

‘Contrarianism, the conscious denial of evidence in support of sectional interests, sets the scene for extremist authoritarian solutions to climate change. This important book demonstrates how associated far-right survivalism - based on exclusion, white supremacy and a fortress mentality - reverberates through the cybersphere and resonates at ground level among those desperate for answers to global heating. Challenging eco-fascism means knowing where it comes from, how it has evolved, and how best to combat it. This book is a must read for those pursuing social and ecological justice.’ 

Rob White, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Criminology, University of Tasmania, Australia

‘The current climate crisis has seen the far right in Australia (and around the world) promote neo-Malthusian solutions wrapped up in survivalism, white supremacy and bioregionalism. Global Heating and the Australian Far Right shows how many on the Australian far right have long incorporated concepts of nature into their political outlook, with the Australian landscape seen as something to be both dominated and used to nourish white settler colonial society. Richards, Brinn and Jones expertly outline the various ways in which environmental and anti-environmental politics have been embraced by the far right and the threat they present in the era of dramatic climate change.’

Evan Smith, Lecturer in History, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; author of No Platform: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speech (Routledge, 2020)

‘Increasingly, global heating overturns all manner of social and political norms. Amid the turmoil of ecological collapse, elements of the far right already sense opportunities. This important book explains the origins and nature of ecofascism, and sounds a warning about how it might grow.’
Jeff Sparrow, Lecturer in Journalism, University of Melbourne, Australia

Table of Contents:

1. The far right and the environment in Australia  2. A heated Australian landscape: histories of environmental politics on the far right  3. Ecofascism online: Australian far-right actors’ use of environmental politics on cross-national media  4. Newsmaking on the environment: climate change resignation and denial in the Australian media  5. New catastrophism and the environment-security-development nexus: programming and advocacy during the climate crisis  6. Far-right (anti-)environmentalism in the post-truth era: global networks and future directions