Researching the Far Right in Education Policy

In recent years, the far-right movement in education, characterized by anti-critical race theory, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-woke campaigns and policies, has gathered steam, threatening to roll back hard-won advances in educational justice, including diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; detracking efforts; student success initiatives for Black and Latinx students; culturally responsive curriculum; ethnic studies; and social-emotional learning programs. The research available on these most recent far-right movements is understandably limited. That said, many education scholars are attempting to study the current wave of far-right activity. To take stock of what these scholars have learned, we conducted a systematic search of the literature, which yielded 80 empirical studies. We review the empirical literature we found and propose a broader, multidimensional research agenda.