Concerning support for neo-fascist groups grows in the global financial crisis.
Flag of the Arditi del Popolo (People's Squads) who resisted Mussolini's National Fascist Party
Indeed for some the idea of something akin to Nazi Germany ever rising again may seem ridiculous. Undermining that very real possibility is a frightening mistake. In capitalism’s last great crisis, The Great Depression, we saw the rise of many populist, nationalist groups all across the globe. Today in the modern crisis it’s no different. Nazi Germany was born out of a nation in financial crisis; using “Volkism” (populism), placing the blame on outsiders, and appealing to Freikorps (disenchanted paramilitary groups) to gain power. These are 5 groups that have spawned or rose to prominence in the recent years worth being aware of.
1. American Freedom Party
The American Freedom Party is a third positionist (revolutionary nationalism that claims to oppose both capitalism and communism), white supremacist, conservative political party that formed in 2010 in opposition to the financial crisis. They are firmly against immigration. They claim to support the labour rights of the American working class, but are against labour unions. While there isn’t strong information on their numbers, their candidate for President in 2012, Merlin Miller, scored 2,703 votes.
2. British National Party
While the BNP is nothing new, existing in Britain since 1982, it has shown a considerable rise in power in the financial crisis. The BNP is a far-right party officially committed to fascism, right-wing populism, white nationalism, and Euroscepticism (criticism of the European Union). It has a history of violence and is officially condemned by Human Rights Watch. In the 2010 general election it had around 4,200 members, 339 candidates, and received 563,743 total votes. This is a sharp increase from 2005 where it only had 117 candidates and received 192,746 total votes.
3. English Defense League
Formed in 2009, the English Defense League is a street protest movement in the UK against perceived spread of Islam. Civil rights group Hope Not Hate considers the EDL the “largest right-wing threat in the UK today.” The group is estimated to have around 30,000 members. They have a large history of violence against immigrants. They have attacked mosques, sent death-threats to journalists, and engaged in football hooliganism. They often clash with UK anti-fascist groups such as United Against Fascism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFlxT9NMKUQ).
4. New Resistance
New Resistance is a currently forming group in the United States. It claims to be a new ideology called "Fourth Theory", based off the writings of fascist philosopher Aleksandr Dugin. Started by a former leader in the neo-nazi group American Front, it mixes left-wing anti-capitalist ideology with racist separatism and nationalism. There is no data yet on their numbers, but a manifesto floats online on their website openrevolt.info. It currently has around 122,000 hits. They use populism to appeal to those who feel disaffected by capitalism, yet call for racial segregation and separatism. Hard to define, it seems to be a case of the fascist virus attempting to mutate itself and the effects are yet to be seen.
5. Golden Dawn
The Golden Dawn is an ultra-nationalist group from Greece. It is the largest of all parties in the third positionist, anti-communist European National Front. It has 18 members recently elected to parliament, received 426,025 total votes in the last election, and is alleged to receive much support from Greek police. They have been known to attack immigrants so frequently and with such little police resistance that motorcades of anarchists have begun to patrol the streets in communities affected by Golden Dawn violence (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGrW_ZTHPNY). It has recently established an office in New York city to reach out to the Greek community there.
Comments
it was my perception that BNP
it was my perception that BNP and EDL are in decline ... and what about e.g. Jobbik in Hungary or Ataka in Bulgaria?
I don't think it is supposed
I don't think it is supposed to be anything like a complete compendium of fascist groups. Obviously fascist groups are most dangerous in the countries where they have widespread support.
its says "rising fascist
its says "rising fascist groups" that discription doesn't fit the BNP and EDL
Yeah the BNP in particular
Yeah the BNP in particular are just so fucked now it's unbelievable. I mean let's not get complacent or anything, but seriously, at the last election they lost every seat they contested. Every single one.
The EDL is a more complicated one. They've basically split into a number of splinter groups over the last few years, which many antifascists regard as a victory, and they certainly can't pull the same numbers for mass street protests that they could back in 2010. However what has happened is that the more hardcore racists have dumped a significant section of their more moderate members in order to form groups like NWI and CxF. This is actually quite a worrying development in some ways, as it opens up space for a more hardline racist politics within that milieu, something that the head honchos of the EDL were pretty keen to clamp down on for PR reasons.
~J.
under no circumstances would
under no circumstances would i minimize the seriousness of any fascist grouping, but i've never heard of the two american outfits listed above and 2,703 votes nationally is microscopic. which is a good thing.
http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/2012presgeresults.pdf
The New Resistance are
The New Resistance are particularity a strange bunch, and it remains to be seen if they'll take off at all. Their National Anarchist like ethnic tribalism likes to use a lot populist appeals. I'd say that they're most similar to the Strasserists who ended up being "useful idiots" for the NDSAP's rise to power (of course later purged in Night of the Long Knives). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasserism
Keep an eye on it.
We should be careful about
We should be careful about using U.S. political election results as a barometer for what is actually going on. Even though the AFP candidate only received ~2700 votes - there are a good many times that with the same views that don't vote. On top of that, there is another sizable portion with just as, or nearly so, reactionary views that just go with the mainstream Republicans. Then a lesser, but still significant, number who identify as Democratic, 'liberal', 'progressive', etc, that I would charitably characterize as right-centrist. We have nationalist neo-nazis, white separatists, you-name-it. The U.S. 'two-party' system gives a lot of cover to what may be lurking in the weeds. The tea-baggers ('Tea Party Patriots') are the only non-mainstream group I've seen to gain any ground - and that was through 'boring from within'. Luckily all of these right-wing groups are splintered up all over the place.
I feel that the predominately parliamentary mult-party systems extant in the old countries at least provide a more accurate gauge of where people are at ideologically, due to people being able to identify with a particular party that might more closely match their own views AND still achieve at least a minimal voice in the process. For instance, the U.S. has both a Socialist and Communist political presence (not to mention the Green Party) but they are absolutely unable to get any traction. It seems to me that, at least as far as European countries are concerned, the forces of reaction are sort of offset by the 'radical left' and wind up being moderated by the more centrist positions who have to go to either end of the political spectrum to achieve a majority (not necessarily to everyone's benefit.)
So I'm thinking that folks in Europe might have a more accurate idea of what their up against concerning the forces of reaction, than we do here in the states.
You may also want to take a
You may also want to take a look at the Group called Odinia. It is a neo Nazi Heathen group, but does not follow any of the tenents of the religion. Their leader is a woman named Seana Fenner Von Fennerberg in Hawaii. They should definately be on your radar as well
The downsizing in the
The downsizing in the pickup's of these fascist parties/groups is likely indicative of opposition, which is good. Like many pointed out though about election results, this obviously isn't something that is going to be settled in bourgeois democracy. The rising militancy, and actual popularity of these parties ideals is what should be noted.
Regarding US groups, while
Regarding US groups, while I'm sure this has been linked on libcom before I'll put it here anyhow because I think it's an interesting picture: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map (which of course I'll add with the caveat that I in no way endorse the politics, state collusion, etc of the SPLC)
I think that there's a ton more "nativist" and patriot type groups emerging than out and out neo-nazi ones. I would easily put these in the neo-fascist category however, as they wrest on a thinly veiled to overt racial supremacy logic, militarism and glorified petty bourgeois values of law & order and the sacred rights of property, and there are also known links between say NSM members and Minutemen, for instance.
I think the Oath Keepers is a good example of this type of patriot group, and I'd put them ahead of the AFP as ones to look out for. They are whipping the very kind of disenfranchised reactionaries BlacquesJacques refers to up in a frenzy over our supposed socialist black president and conspiracies to take their guns and round them up in FEMA-run death camps (which I wish I was kidding about, but sadly there's a ton of shit like that put out which is much too literal). It's notable that Oath Keepers are specifically made up of and calling out to former and current police and military.
Then you've got something like this crazy shit like "The Citadel"
So, yeah, I think this is a real problem. I don't think anything like a majority of people are into this stuff, but the sheer numbers who pay it some kind of attention is unsettling and does show a weakness of an ideologically left position in the minds of a pretty big section of the population.
One of the American Freedom
One of the American Freedom Party activists in Florida named Atlee Yarrow is a former Socialist Party USA leftist who went Mussolini and became an anti-immigration xenophobe. These folks are pure scum, and the rise of the reactionary Tea Party has only helped fuel these nuts
I really think that the
I really think that the ranking of these sorts of groups is kind of silly, as any of us only has to deal, on the ground, with the groups *in our areas/borders* for the most part, which makes how group X acts somewhere else of interest, but not in any practical sense.
That being said, a general list of (major [? sic]) fascist groups, country by country, could be an interesting reference tool for all of us.
Oh, and the splc stuff is crap. They are just a version of "antifa" ambulance-chasers who use it to raise money from guilt-ridden 'progressives', and if they can instill more alarm, the more the cheques, imo.
Quote: I really think that
FWIW I didn't read this is a most-to-least threatening ranking, more as a start of a more comprehensive and ongoing list.
Fair enough, such didn't seem
Fair enough, such didn't seem entirely clear to me, at least. That aside, I still think as I said.
Chili Sauce wrote: FWIW I
Chili Sauce
There certainly was no rhyme or reason to the list in terms of ranking. All fascist groups and groups potentially useful to fascists should be equally opposed.
Yeah, calling the BNP or the
Yeah, calling the BNP or the EDL "rising" is pretty laughable, they are both in massive decline at the moment and have been for some time now
Part of the reason (it seems
Part of the reason (it seems to me) that the BNP and the EDL are on the decline* is that the state has basically stolen their thunder. Sometimes get annoyed when people get to gleeful about the demise of more observable far-right groupings at the expense of a wider proliferation of far-right ideas at the 'centre'.
* Apart from the fact that they are a bunch of idiots who couldn't arrange a piss-up in a brewery.
http://www.onepeoplesproject.
http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1133%3Anational-anarchists-kicked-to-the-curb-during-punks-against-police-show-in-nyc&catid=29%3Aus&Itemid=14&lang=en
Well here is their website
Well here is their website http://openrevolt.info/newresistance/ I thought it was kind of odd that they're not associated with the NAM (National Anarchist Movement) but they may have links to the National Bolsheviks in Russia who have an aliance with the Western oriented National Anarchists and such. This Ethnic Tribalism is a weird new form of fascsim (sort of like how the Nazis used "Socialist" for populist appeal, these guys use Bolshevik and or Anarchist in the same way, devoid of their actual meanings). The people most prone to this NAM shit are the Working Class Anarchists/ Punks and Skins who mistake their populist and anarchist rehtoric for revolutionary change, but this was nice to see http://www.onepeoplesproject.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1133%3Anational-anarchists-kicked-to-the-curb-during-punks-against-police-show-in-nyc&catid=29%3Aus&Itemid=14&lang=en I hope ANTIFA is able to keep them from growing.
Hi, its recommended you don't
Hi, its recommended you don't link directly to hostile sites, if you need to share a link to one, you should break it eg by putting spaces in so that their webadmin cant see that visitors are coming via libcom or whatever