Right-Wing Extremism: Alienation and Neoliberalism in Contemporary Australia

Australian RWE has been under researched within the political discipline from the perspective of alienation and in the context of contemporary neoliberalism. Scholarship instead focus on broader studies of the far right and populist parties, with recent research being produced from counter-terrorism and security studies disciplines as opposed to the social sciences. Identified is a changing focus within RWE investigation and practice to apply political theory in a focus on the influence of structural and material conditions on extremists. Utilising a Marxist lens and Gramscian hegemony against the backdrop of the Australian neoliberal state, this thesis argues that RWE is a symptom of alienation experienced within a capitalist state, however this must be understood within the context of neoliberal capitalism and the challenges social and digital media create. Concepts such as ecofascism within Australian RWE are found to be indicative not only of far-right values but issues unique and central to mainstream Australia such as settler colonial legacies and national identity.