Reflexiver Neofaschismus

Gouvernementale Affekt‐ und Körperpolitiken in der ‚Alternativen Rechten‘

Abstract

English abstract: This article looks at online manifestations of the so‐called Alt‐Right and their perplexing analogy to contemporary governmental genres of self‐help. From ‚white identitarian’ discourse to male anti‐masturbation‐ groups on the internet, this article charts the affective body politics of right‐ wing agitators and orbiters to argue that their racist, sexist and xenophobic rhetoric has changed registers from exclusion/superiority‐languages towards a neoliberal body politics of white male self‐improvement and minoritarian‐ ism. Drawing on queer affect theory to elucidate the quotidian aspects and vir‐ tual performances of this metapolitical shift from ‚white power’ to ‚white em‐ powerment’, the article argueds that historical scholarship needs to move be‐ yond pointing out the obvious parallels between contemporary and historical fascism, and acknowledge the fully neoliberal, consumerist, and self‐reflexive aspects of neofascism.