When it comes to academic research on the far right in Canada, Barrett's book is foundational. He was the first to really try and objectively assess the extent of far right activity, and to develop a sense of how various groups intersected, as well as what motivated them. His contribution is significant.
The book does much to capture a sense of the groups that had been active in Canada's far right up to the early 1980s, ranging from standards such as the Ku Klux Klan and Canadian Nazi Party, through to somewhat more innocuous groups such as Citizens for Foreign Aid Reform. He also attempts to give some biographical background on then-leading members of the Canadian far right, such as Ernst Zundel, Wolfgang Droege, Paul Fromm, and John Ross Robertson, etc.
As the first to really tackle this subject, Barrett notes that he did encounter some resistance from academics, who felt he was giving the far right a platform and attention that they did not deserve. This may be the reason that he is sure to position himself as opposed to the ideology of the groups and individuals involved.
As interesting as this book is, there is something dissatisfying about it, that I can't quite put my finger on. If anything, it feels, perhaps, as if it lacks a thesis... an argument. As an anthropologist, maybe this is what is expected. I'm not sure. I would prefer, however, that the book takes a bit more gritty, aggressive approach.
The final two chapters do make a pretty admirable effort to tie up the loose ends of analysis, and to summarize the commonalities between the organizations and persons looked at. Barrett also makes some interesting assertions about the logic that seems to animate the racism he observed. In particular, he asserts that the primary rationalization for the racism he identified was rooted in religion (Jews as Christ-killers, etc.), and only secondarily on claims to science (e.g., biological difference between races, etc.).
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