fishhook theory

See also: fish-hook theory

English

Alternative forms

• fish hook theory

Etymology

Referring to the curved shape of a fishhook, where the barbed end points toward the center.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

fishhook theory (uncountable)

1. (Internet slang, politics) A political theory, sometimes suggested by far-left activists, which asserts that centrists and the far right are politically allied.
   • 2021 June 21, u/MisterPyromaniac, “Fish hook theory is cringe”, in Reddit‎, r/PoliticalCompassMemes, archived from the original on 9 October 2025:

     I don't quite understand what the fish hook theory is supposed to say. Are centrists the same as the far right, but the moderate right is something else? That makes no sense.

   • 2022 February 27, u/BaybarsElSaif, “"Now the unthinkable has happened to them, and this is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe"”, in Reddit‎, r/ShitLiberalsSay, archived from the original on 9 October 2025:

     Fishhook theory proven time and time again

   • 2024 September 5, Daphne Lawless, “Fascism: Neither Horseshoes Nor Fishhooks, But The Three-Way Fight”, in New Politics‎, archived from the original on 9 October 2025:

     If you want to hope the bourgeois state will defend us, you will be motivated towards Horseshoe Theory, arguing that anyone to the Left of Kamala Harris is a Red-Brown. If, conversely, you sincerely want to build a Red-Brown alliance, you take up the Fishhook Theory, arguing that fascism is a tool of the State and therefore your new friends in the MAGA hats can't be fascists since they're against the neoliberal order.

   • 2025 March 13, u/Ash_an_bun, “Not helpful”, in Reddit‎, r/EhBuddyHoser, archived from the original on 9 October 2025:

     Yeah the democratic party in the last 10 years has been the poster child for fish hook theory. The fact of the matter is that if they fought the republicans as hard as they fought progressives in their own party, they'd win.

   • 2025 June 3, u/dontlosethegame, “Stalin on horseshoe theory”, in Reddit‎, r/LateStageCapitalism, archived from the original on 9 October 2025:

     Horseshoe theory is something liberals came up with to demonize communism and equate it with fascism. Fish hook theory more accurately describes fascism's appeal to moderates when they need to divide the working class.

Further reading

• fish hook theory on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

See also

• horseshoe theory
• NazLib
• scratch a liberal and you'll find a fascist