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Uses business conflict analysis to examine the complex relationship between business interests & ultraconservative movements in the US, described as those that go beyond the usual conservative defense of established power relations, but stop short of demanding total elimination of all liberal pluralistic institutions. The focus is on the role of capitalism in bringing these groups together in the New Right that emerged in the 1970s & disintegrated in the 1980s & 1990s. Special attention is given to parallels between policy disputes among right-wing politicians & capitalist factional divisions, beginning with conflicts between members of the business class who supported or opposed the New Deal system. Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign allowed business nationalists to regain control of the national Republican Party, laid the groundwork for the emergence of the New Right, & was vital for Ronald Reagan's victories. Factors that helped to splinter the right-wing/business coalition include economic trends, Pat Buchanan's isolationist campaign, & Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition. Future prospects for the alliance between business interests & right-wing politics are discussed. J. Lindroth

Cover -- Half Title Page -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. Rebellious Colonizers: Bacon's Rebellion and the American Revolution -- 2. The Real People: Antimasonry, Jacksonianism, and Anti-Catholic Nativism -- 3. A Great Mongrel Military Despotism: The First Ku Klux Klan and the Anti-Chinese Crusade -- 4. Barbarians and Plunder Leagues: Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressives -- 5. 100 Percent Americanism: World War I–Era Repression and the Second Ku Klux Klan -- 6. The Industrialist as Producer: Henry Ford's Corporate Empire -- 7. Driving Out the Money Changers: Fascist Politics in the New Deal Era -- 8. From New Deal to Cold War: Political Scapegoating and Business Conflict from the 1930s to the 1950s -- 9. The Pillars of U.S. Populist Conspiracism: The John Birch Society and the Liberty Lobby -- 10. From Old Right to New Right: Godless Communism, Civil Rights, and Secular Humanism -- 11. Culture Wars and Political Scapegoats: Gender, Sexuality, and Race -- 12. Dominion Theology and Christian Nationalism: Hard-Line Ideology versus Pragmatism -- 13. New Faces for White Nationalism: Reframing Supremacist Narratives -- 14. Battling the New World Order: Patriots and Armed Militias -- 15. The Vast Clinton Conspiracy Machine: The Hard Right on the Center Stage -- 16. The New Millennium: Demonization, Conspiracism, and Scapegoating in Transition -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Appendix A: Sectors of the U.S. Right Active in the Year 2000 -- Appendix B: The Producerist Narrative Used in Right-Wing Populism -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Authors

"This book celebrates the life and work of scholar-activist Chip Berlet. His contributions over four decades have had broad-ranging impacts: on activists, independent intellectuals, and academics, from think tanks and social movements to generations of scholars. Berlet's work over the decades has covered a wide range of topics, from the Christian Right, armed militias, social movement theory and white supremacy to conspiracism, civil liberties and government surveillance. This book features contributions reflecting on many of these topics by leading scholars and activists who have been inspired by his work and example. This book will be of great interest to scholars, students, and activists within anti-racist, anti-fascist and progressive social movements"--