Right-wing populism today is swarm politics, not mass fascism.

Evidence

Taking stock of today’s populism as a product of the 2010s also necessitates freeing ourselves from a mindset we’ve inherited from an earlier age—one that insists our world is currently in the grip of a “fascist” resurgence. … Contemporary “populists” on the right, such as Boris Johnson, Matteo Salvini, and Viktor Orbán, might have their followers, sympathizers, likers, and sharers. But one would be hard-pressed to call any of these fandoms “a mass affair.” Rather, the 2010s brought forth a new politics of the swarm, with movements headed not by party tribunes, but by what the sociologist Paolo Gerbaudo has called “hyperleaders”—figures whose media presence imparted coherence to a coalition where otherwise there would be none. None of these leaders preside over a society riven by pitched battles and organized class conflict of the kind last seen in the first half of the twentieth century. As Adam Tooze notes, with no world wars the “missing ingredient in the classic fascist equation … is social antagonism, a threat, whether imagined or real, to the social and economic status quo.” Fascism is here best seen as a civil war waged on the labor movement, itself only a minor presence in the age of the digital swarm. — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 32

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes ‘swarm politics’ with hyperleaders from classic mass fascism, a key analytical frame for the book.
• QUESTION: Worth checking Gerbaudo’s ‘hyperleader’ concept and Tooze’s missing-social-antagonism claim against later chapters’ argument.
• XREF: connects to: Populism may be collective irrational exuberance, not class reaction. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 489; Today’s far right operates as a swarm, not a disciplined party — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics: Extreme Politicization…, 150; Contemporary right-wing populist followings lack the mass organization fascism required — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment: The Left After the…, 32 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Contemporary right-wing populist followings lack the mass organization fascism required #corroborates (0.90) — Arthur Borriello and Anton Jäger, The Populist Moment, 32
• Today’s far right operates as a swarm, not a disciplined party #expands (0.85) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 150
• Populism may be collective irrational exuberance, not class reaction. #corroborates (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 489
• Culturally explosive ideology does not automatically become a social or political force. #expands (0.72)
• Right-wing populism embraces optimistic chaos against expert prediction rather than seeking security #expands (0.72) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 291