Short Read by Joshua Farrell-Molloy, Graham Macklin
Disclaimer: Primary sources, including quotations, are not linked within the text for ethical reasons. Readers interested in obtaining primary material may contact the authors directly.
“Eco-fascism” is receiving renewed attention following the recent far-right terrorist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. In his manifesto, the perpetrator hailed as an inspiration the 2019 Christchurch attacker, himself a self-declared “eco-fascist,’’ and plagiarised his manifesto’s section on environmentalism which described immigration as “environmental warfare” and ‘’destructive to nature.’’ Notably, the Buffalo attacker also quoted Ted Kaczynski, otherwise known as the Unabomber, excerpting Kaczynski’s critiques of leftists from his 1995 anti-technology manifesto Industrial Society and its Future (he was not the first far-right terrorist to do so, Anders Breivik also plagiarised Kaczynski’s manifesto in 2011).
Kaczynski is a figure contemporary eco-fascists have coalesced around. Indeed he has been increasingly co-opted by the broader far-right in recent years. While most of what has been discussed about eco-fascism is centred on anti-immigration “green” nationalism or far-right neo-Malthusian arguments about overpopulation, less discussed is the salience of Kaczynski’s anti-modern and anti-technology ideas within eco-fascist communities.
Kaczynski advocated for overthrowing the industrial-technological system, not white supremacism. Highlighting then the appeal of Kaczynski within contemporary eco-fascist subcultures is crucial for understanding both the ideology of these lesser known far-right communities and threats that could emerge from them. Environmental issues are typically associated as a frequent grievance of left-wing movements, and eco-extremism with radical environmentalists such as the Earth Liberation Front. Effective horizon scanning must consider the ‘double-pronged’ ideological nature of eco-extremism, by accounting for the far-right and also considering how far-right violence associated with the environment and climate change may manifest.
This ICCT perspective will focus on the co-opting of Kaczynski’s ideology by self-styled eco-fascists, why he appeals to these communities, and what the implications could be for potential future eco-fascist threats. We use the term ‘eco-fascism,’ although it is contested, with some scholars proposing alternative labels such as ‘neo-ecofascism,’ ‘right-wing ecologism’ or ‘far-right ecologism.’