‘Far right studies’ and the unbearable whiteness of being

Research on the far, radical, extreme, or populist right in political science is one of those broad fields that appear to be thriving regardless of the popularity and reach of their objects of study. The spectre of fascism has meant that this remained true when such politics were at their nadir in the mid to late twentieth century. Since the turn of the century and as far-right parties reconstructed and gained ground in various settings, the literature has exploded. While the field has expanded to i a wide range of issues from electoral politics to concepts such as populism, racism as a concept and area of study has remained peripheral at best and more generally ignored. This is particularly striking as research on racism has been booming in other, related disciplines and increasingly emboldened racist politics have emerged in the 2010s, rendering claims of moderation which had popularised euphemistic terminology unconvincing. This chapter studies this peculiar omission through an analysis of academic publications in the field and the terms used to describe what would be termed racism in other fields. Through this, it will aim to both map and make sense of the colourblind approach core to the discipline.