Across the world, “great replacement” theory has been employed again and again as the political foundation for fascism. Some of its fundamental tenets, such as the view that “whites are a dying minority”, have been amplified by tech billionaires and their platforms.

According to the version of this theory most employed in Europe and the United States, white replacement theory, white populations are being “replaced” by non-white populations, a replacement engineered by a shadowy global elite. For example, the need for skilled labor is supposedly being used by global elites as an excuse to bring in non-white immigrants to replace white workers.

Great replacement theory – a phenomenon Ibram X Kendi extensively documents in his recent book, Chain of Ideas – is the governing ideology of Europe’s far-right parties. It also serves as a justification for the US’s remorseless and violent politics of mass deportation or “remigration”, the term introduced by the far-right Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner in a 2024 book of that title. While a powerful international far right promotes this theory, a real great replacement is happening: of humanity with artificial intelligence.

Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is Europe’s most prominent extreme far-right party, whose central platform is, essentially, remigration. Elon Musk is a vocal supporter of this party, having given a speech remotely at the AfD campaign launch in January 2025, stating: “You have to go all out to convince people to vote for AfD.” AfD’s party program for Saxony-Anhalt explicitly uses the concerns of the fake great replacement theory to justify implementing the real one. Point 28 of its agenda for “Immigration and Remigration” begins:

double quotation markAn AfD-led state government will develop a........

© The Guardian