Militant subcultures, styles and aesthetics

Friday November 30, 15.15 – 16.45

Session 6, Auditorium 6, ESH

Chair: Daniel Sallamaa

Paper presenters

  • Heikki Kovalainen: “National Awakening? Artistic research into the rise of rightist extremism in Finland 2010–2015”
  • Tina Askanius: “’I just wanna be the friendly face of national socialism, I wanna be part of its normalisation’: The aesthetic-cultural practices of the Nordic Resistance Movement and the mainstreaming of neo-Nazi discourse in Sweden”
  • Christian T. Højgrav Rasmussen: “Jihadi clothing and clothing styles”

 

Abstracts

National Awakening? Artistic research into the rise of rightist extremism in Finland 2010–2015”

Heikki Kovalainen, University of Helsinki

My paper presents a case study of Finnish rightist extremism in 2010–2015 through a three year project of artistic research. I have authored a research-based fictional novel, titled National Awakening (forthcoming in September 2018)—which will provide the basis for both thematic observations on Finnish neo-fascism as well as methodological reflections on researching it.

My background is in moral and political philosophy (PhD 2010, adjunct professorship since 2012), but my current project fuses scientific and artistic methods. I have followed closely the developments of Finnish neo-fascism during the last decade, reworking and re-weaving these into a 400-page novel. The novel lends textual materials from various real-life sources, ranging from social media conversations to parliamentary politics—and I show in my paper how translating these into fictive prose allows for a nuanced dissection of Finnish neo-fascism.

I argue that Finnish neo-fascism (exemplified in my paper by the nationalist organization Suomen Sisu, founded in 1998) fuels itself through two mechanisms, in particular. First, it has created and distributed viral ways of speaking across versatile internet platforms much before it has gained political power, making it difficult for opponents to track down and bring to justice its proponents. Second, this virtual activism has dwelt, to a remarkable extent, on a peculiar brand of Finnish sarcasm, which has crucially smoothened the later transition to racism and rightist politics. My novel aims at making these mechanisms visible, using estrangement through art as a method, therefore providing a unique case for a reflection on Finnish neo-fascism.

"I just wanna be the friendly face of national socialism, I wanna be part of its normalisation”: The aesthetic-cultural practices of the Nordic Resistance Movement and the mainstreaming of neo-Nazi discourse in Sweden 

Tina Askanius, Malmö University

This paper is based on a case study of the Nordic Resistance Movement in Sweden, conducted in the context of the ongoing project Digital radicalisation - analogue extremism?  (MMW 2018-2021). The empirical data consists of a motley range of different online media texts including web-TV, podcasts, radio programs and music videos all produced by and for members of the NRM. Theoretically, it turns to perspectives on cultural citizenship (Hermes 2005) and far-right youth cultures (Miller-Idriss 2017) to bring centre stage the role of popular culture and entertainment forms in the formation of political subjectivity and mainstreaming processes around the Nazi party. The analysis takes a particular interest in the role of music in the material, its interlaced workings e.g. as storytelling device in videos or as background features in the podcasts, videos and program jingles. In doing so, it explores how musical practices form part of wider aesthetic, cultural and political strategies in the group’s attempt to move towards a narrative of ‘trendy fascism’ (Love 2014). The paper demonstrates how such hybrid entertainment formats are adding to the ‘ordinariness’ and the normalcy of neo-Nazi discourse and the banalisation and defusing of its underlying ideologies.

Analysing Jihadi Clothing and Clothing Styles

Christian T. Højgrav Rasmussen, University of Copenhagen

Clothing is a way for humans to construct and perform their identities and their social roles. Clothing conveys meaning and by studying the semiotics of clothing, we can gain valuable information. Recently we have witnessed great studies about the culture of jihadis, but there has been a gap in researching the appearance of jihadis. Clothing encompass “language” and by analysing this language we can obtain valuable information about ideology, politics, values and religion as well as rank and class within jihadi groups. This paper will present findings on jihadi clothing styles within sunni-jihādī groups by asking the question: Why do jihadis dress like they do in the search of broadening our understanding of jihadis. The jihadi “uniform” of today is generally a quasi-military uniform, which is projecting wider themes within the jihadi groups. The jihadis are rebranding the military uniform by merging it with a salafī conception of Islamic clothing to portray themselves as a legitimate army as well as creating an ‘us’ and ‘them’. The analysed data of this paper is gathered from jihadi publications and fatwas from sunni-jihadi groups and is collated with Islamic sources on clothing to see if and how it is collating. By adapting theories from studies on clothing, fashion and uniforms together with semiotics and Islamic studies, this paper present an interdisciplinary approach in the search of filling a gap in the study of jihadis as well as expanding our knowledge of jihādī groups and the meaning of their clothing styles.

Published June 25, 2018 4:58 PM - Last modified Nov. 23, 2018 4:00 PM