Based on a study of techniques developed by far-right activists in the mid-1940s in the United States, the authors provide a detailed exploration of the theoretical motivations used by these agitators to build up their audiences. This exploration highlights the features of agitation, a form of political expression closely linked to fascist logics. Drawing on the social malaise that is its business, far-right agitation mobilizes a range of grievances that arouse destructive emotions in those that it targets: mistrust, dependence, exclusion, anxiety and disillusionment. Unlike reformist or revolutionary activism, it does not aim for real social change but instead urges audiences to focus their anger on personified targets, without challenging the social, economic and political status quo.