Resonance and the Moral Backgrounds of Far‐Right Politics in Chile

ABSTRACT

Research on the far right has shown that its resonance does not depend solely on ideological alignment but also on the moral connections individuals build with these groups. Scholars have done significant work clarifying the ways in which resonant relationships are experienced. However, there is room to supplement these perspectives with works that show the heterogeneity of moral values that underpin far‐right resonance and the different ways they are used to sustain that support across shifting contexts and rhetoric. Building upon a tradition that sees morality and identity as interdependent, this paper asks: How do individuals' self‐understandings shape their support for the far right? It approaches this question by drawing on interviews with organizers, militants, and supporters of Chile's Republican Party (CRP), the country's most prominent far‐right formation, and its leader, José Antonio Kast. The findings indicate that support for the CRP emerged through the reworking of moral backgrounds centered on social order, Catholicism, the heteronormative family, and resilience. Participants sustained their support by drawing on these moral backgrounds to interpret significant events in Chile's political history, the authenticity of Kast's persona, as well as discursive shifts in ways that relate to their personal experiences. These findings contribute to the theorization of resonance within the far right by showing how it is locally embedded while selectively adapting transnational themes to specific historical and cultural contexts.