Overview
- Traces the evolution of post-war fascism in the UK into an international movement
- Utilises a range of interviews with key figures within the movement
- Examines how music became a conduit for the fascist movement
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music (PSHSPM)
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Reviews
“Important contribution to the historiography on the growth of the extreme right in the British Isles since the end of the Second World War ... . rich detail how extreme right activists thus exploited ‘White Power’ music as part of their political and cultural crusade ... .” (Steven Woodbridge, The Historian, August 10, 2023)
“Examine the intellectual and ideological dimensions of the British far right, which in turn explain their struggles to gain popular appeal and political legitimacy ... .” (Kyle Burke, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 35 (5), 2023)
“An overdue in-depth historical examination of some of the more important developments to have taken place on the extreme right of underground British (and indeed global) politics in recent decades. Showcasing impressively exhaustive research, combining a wide-ranging study of primary published materials and a raft of interviews with key figures in the British neo-fascist subculture, this is an account thatably explains several important developments and rightly highlights the importance of transnational connections to contemporary forms of fascist politics.” (Benjamin Bland, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 56 (2), 2021)
“A great addition to upper-level sociology, anthropology, musicology, political science, or social science courses looking to elevate the level of seriousness with which cultural forms like music are considered. This book may help politicians, policy makers, and youth community workers understand how nascent—and seemingly dead—ideologies return to life. Lastly, Shaffer’s book may be of interest to fans of punk music and music in general, especially those who want to start to understand the slippery nature of politics exploiting music … .” (Michael J. Lorr, Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Vol. 14 (1), 2020)
“For anyone with a deep interest and knowledge in British fascism of that period, this will be an essential source … .” (Stephen Dorril, Journal of British Studies, Vol. 59 (1), 2020)
“Succeed[s] in … demonstrating that the significance of post-war British fascism lies not so much in its domestic electoral context, but in the international context where it became, particularly so in the 1980s and 1990s, a genuine force in the international subculture of right wing extremism. … Shaffer’s study reveals how the more entrepreneurial of Britain’s post-war fascists exploited music and youth subculture to take their messages of hate to the world.” (Nigel Copsey, Politics, Religion & Ideology, Vol. 20 (1), 2019)
“Excellent recent examples of such research, and also highlight successive chronological phases of these developments.” (Jeffrey M. Bale, Patterns of Prejudice, Vol. 53 (2), 2019)
“One strength of Shaffer’s book is the extensive interviews he carried out with NF and BNP leaders … . the book is valuable for showing how fringe movements function, recruit, and negotiate the difficult waters of local and national politics.” (Roland Clark, The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Vol. 12 (2), 2019)
“Shaffer has made an important contribution to the study of British fascism. His empirical approach provides an invaluable, and very readable, guide to the many, tiny groups and splinter groups, as well as the variegated ideological trends, that have fostered this complex, marginalized movement from the 1960s to the present day.” (Paul Jackson, History - The Journal of the Historical Association, Vol. 104 (360), March 6, 2019)
“Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism is based on an impressive body of interviews carried out by the author with some of the main figures of British anti-Fascism and Fascism. … These new interviews mark the book as a valuable contribution to the field, next to other well-established studies of postwar British Fascism by scholars such as Nigel Copsey and Graham Macklin.” (Liam J. Liburd, History - Reviews of New Books, Vol. 46 (5), 2018)
“In a welcome revision to this trend, Ryan Shaffer’s Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism offers detailed examination of a milieu that, though on the margins of British politics and society, has helped to shape racist cultures in the second half of the twentieth century, and continues to campaign for extremist ideals in the twenty-first… Shaffer has made an important contribution to the study of British fascism. His empirical approach provides an invaluable, and very readable, guide to the many, tiny groups and splinter groups, as well as the variegated ideological trends, that have fostered this complex, marginalized movement from the 1960s to the present day.” (Paul Jackson, History no. 104, no. 360 (April 2019))
“Ryan Shaffer has produced an invaluable work that traces the cultural evolution of post-war fascism. The book will be essential reading for all scholars of the far-right, youth culture and post-war politics.“ (Matthew Worley, University of Reading, UK)
“In these pages are the leaders and the punters, the music and white power bands that are the children of Ian Stuart Donaldson and Skrewdriver, and many, many more. Ryan Shaffer does an especially meticulous job of documenting the international linkages that the National Socialist movement forged and the skinhead movement nurtured.” (Jeffrey Kaplan, Jilin University, China)
“In this content-rich book, Ryan Shaffer puts questions to the movers and shakers on Britain’s far right. The result is a challenging and perceptive insight into how Britain’s post-war fascists exploited music and youth to take their messages of hate to the world.” (Nigel Copsey, Teesside University, UK)
“Based on extensive scholarship Shaffer’s book provides fresh insight into the important impact that youth culture and music had in fostering the evolution of the extreme right in post-war Britain, both nationally and transnationally.” (Graham Macklin, Teesside University, UK)
Authors and Affiliations
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Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism
Book Subtitle: The Transformation of Extremism
Authors: Ryan Shaffer
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59668-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-59667-9Published: 29 November 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-86675-8Published: 30 August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-59668-6Published: 18 September 2017
Series ISSN: 2730-9517
Series E-ISSN: 2730-9525
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 351
Topics: Cultural History, Youth Culture, Political History, History of Britain and Ireland, Music