The word ‘Antifa’ originates from the German term for Antifascist and represents a network of resistance movements that emerged in response to Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Presently, Antifa characterizes a decentralized anti-fascist movement with regional chapters and independent activists worldwide.
Antifascist activism gained prominence after Antifa’s involvement in countering the white supremacist ‘Unite The Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Over the past decade, Antifa has become synonymous with progressive demonstrations and community organizing, involving tactics such as doxxing, property damage, and physical confrontations at the street level.
In late September this year, President Donald Trump officially labeled Antifa as a domestic terrorist group. Mark Bray, an academic and expert in European history and radicalism, known for his book ‘ANTIFA – the anti-fascist handbook,’ sheds light on the historical evolution of antifascist movements from the 1930s to the present day and draws parallels between Trump’s terror designation and authoritarian crackdowns in American, Canadian, and global history.
