Archive:Far-right subcultures

Template:Multiple issues Template:Far-right politics sidebar Far-right subcultures refers to the symbolism, ideology and traits that hold relevance to various politically extreme right-wing groups and organisations.Template:Verification failed

The most commonly discussed far right subculture is the white power music scene that emerged from the skinhead culture, although other far right subcultures have been identified too.

Background

Subculture

A subculture is understood in cultural studies as a smaller group within a dominant mainstream culture that distinguishes itself through unique values, behaviors, styles, and signifying practices, or is unified by a deviant perspective. While the Chicago school of sociology described subcultures in the mid-20th century as forms of deviancy, the classic analysis comes from the Birmingham school of cultural studies. The Birmingham Centre for Cultural Studies (BCCS), particularly in the books ‘’Resistance Through Rituals’’, edited by Stuart Hall in 1976, and ‘’Subculture: The Meaning of Style’’ by Dick Hebdige, argued that youth subcultures—like punks or mods—use visible style as a symbolic form of resistance against class subordination and dominant capitalist norms. Skinheads were one of the classic subcultures they analysed. BCCS saw the 1960s and 1970s skinhead subculture as a complex, symbolic response to the decline of traditional British working-class communities. Hebdige and Phil Cohen saw the style was an exaggeration and imitation of traditional working-class masculinity.

Subcultures, which remain within dominant society, are distinguished from countercultures, which seek to escape or destroy dominant society. Some scholars have argued that the far right itself is a subculture (for example, Benjamin Lee lists the far right as one of several “lethal subcultures”, including Jihadism ) while others have discussed whether fascist groups such as the British National Party should be seen as subcultures or countercultures.

Key far right subcultures

Skinheads and white power music

“Emerging from the skinhead youth subculture in Britain at the end of the 1970s, and spreading to the continent and across the Atlantic in the following decade,” the white power music scene “served as accompaniment to a rising tide of racist and anti-immigrant violence in Germany, and become a focus of recruiting for the radical right world-wide.”

in the 1990s, “skinhead gangs carried out much of the violence associated with the far right, as violence against political opponents and immigrants was an integral part of their subculture.” They attracted young people through white power rock music and a vibrant scene. However, the scene subsided in most of Western Europe in the 21st century.

National Socialist Black Metal and Neo-Paganism

National Socialist black metal (NSBM) is a far right subculture embedded in the larger black metal music scene, especially in Northern Europe but spreading globally, including to South America. Its participants express antisemitism, White nationalism and nostalgia for 20th century fascism and Nazism, motifs that stem from the pagan and anti-Christian tropes common in black metal lyrics and culture, rather than under the influence of far right political organisations. Heathenry has played a part in this subculture.

Siege Culture and accelerationism

While the post-war American far right was typically culturally conservative, James Mason - inspired by subcultures such as bikers and hippies and by Charles Manson, attempted to fuse fascism with alternative culture. His newsletter and later book, Siege, advocated for this. Although extremely marginal when it ceased publication in the 1980s, it became influential on neo-Nazis after it was published in 1992 by extreme culture journalist Michael J. Moynihan, who is also known for co-writing Lords of Chaos, a book about black metal. Mason inspired a scene called Siege Culture that would be associated in the current century with accelerationism.

Hardbass and Fashwave

In Europe and North America “in the current post skinhead era,… the far right has found new cultural forms that are less workerist, less masculinist and less crude in style” then earlier skinhead subcultures. Among these are Hardbass and Fashwave. Hardbass is a “short-lived but vibrant far-right, post–White power music subculture in Europe during the early 2010s”, centered on electronic dance music genre.

Alt right digital subcultures

In the 2010s, the alt-right was one of the most prominent far right subcultures. The alt right has included several digital subcultures, flourishing on platforms such as 4Chan, including groypers.

Subcultural parasitism

A neo-Nazi skinhead from Germany

Far-right ideologists try to infiltrate subcultures in order to spread their ideas among them. These attempts are defined as subcultural parasitism. The most well-known subculture that has been taken over by the far-right and neo-Nazis is the skinhead scene, which originated in Great Britain. Some examples of subculture parasitism: the nipster, infiltration of the hipster (contemporary subculture) by neo-Nazis (Nazi Hipster), Nazi punk, infiltration of the heavy metal subculture, known as National Socialist black metal (NSBM/NSCH). Subcultures as the Goth subculture and the hip hop subculture have also been infiltrated by far-right movements and ideologists.

Cultural counter-subversion

Template:See alsoTemplate:Further There is another strategy which is resorted to by neo-Nazis and far-right movements, and it is called cultural subversion. This strategy uses already existing forms of expression and organization and gives them a far right meaning. Some examples:

• Music: use of already existing songs and the changing of their lyrics into lyrics which are nationalist or racist
• Slogans: the changing of the left-wing slogan 'Long live the international solidarity' into the nationalist slogan 'Long live the national solidarity'
• Forms of Organization: democratic forms of organization are copied and accommodated to far-right ideologies

Contemporary forms in specific countries

Identitarian movement

Identitarian movement

The Identitarian movement is one of the most renowned far-right youth cultures in Germany and it is also a part of the New Right. Within the New Right, it has four unique position features: youthfulness, an excessive desire for action, pop culture and Corporate Identity. The German Identitarian movement uses Facebook as its main platform, where it spreads quotations of famous thinkers of the Conservative Revolutionary movement such as Ernst Jünger and Carl Schmitt, articles of the far-right journal Sezession and videos of various campaigns.

The American alt-right movement

Alt-right

Also referred to as the alternative right, the alt-right is a recently formed political movement which holds extreme views on a wide array of political, cultural, racial and religious issues, with their central themes being white supremacy and white nationalism. It has gained a significant amount of prominence since the run-up to the presidential election of 2016, in which Donald Trump was elected. While there are numerous recorded cases of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim behavior by alt-right supporters, most of whom have a predominantly Christian background, personal religious disposition does not prove to be of great importance beyond the religious beliefs of those who are discriminated against.Template:Failed verification

Embrace of Nazi/fascist symbolism

Richard B. Spencer speaking at an alt-right meeting, 2016

Following Donald Trump's victory in November 2016, the exposure and symbolism which is associated with the alt-right has become more distinct. In mid-November 2016, an alt-right conference with approximately 200 people was held in Washington, D.C. One of the speakers at this event was president of the National Policy Institute and white supremacist; Richard Spencer. Audience members cheered and gave the Nazi salute when he said, "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" The parallel theme of cultural purity combined with the totalitarian connotations and other ominous connotations which are associated with Nazi history provide an aesthetic appeal to the themes and ideas of the alt-right. Due to the highly superficial nature of the group, the understanding of the key concepts which are behind these other far-right political movements is secondary to the imagery and the visual culture which are both associated with them.

See also

• Far-right politics
• Far-right social centres
• Fashwave
• National Socialist black metal
• Nazi chic
• Skinheads
• White power music

Bibliography

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