“I just want to be the friendly face of national socialism”: The turn to civility in the cultural expressions of neo-Nazism in Sweden

Abstract

This article is based on a case study of the media narratives of the neo-Nazi organisation Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) and situates this particular actor within the broader landscape of violent extremism in Sweden today. Drawing on a qualitative content analysis informed by narrative inquiry, I examine various cultural expressions of neo-Nazi ideology in NRM's extensive repertoire of online media. Theoretically, I turn to cultural perspectives on violent extremism to bring to centre stage the role of popular culture and entertainment in the construction of a meaningful narrative of community and belonging built around neo-Nazism in Sweden today. The analysis explores the convergence between different genres, styles, and content into new cultural expressions of national socialism which bleed into mainstream Internet culture and political discourse in new ways. In the online universe of NRM, the extreme blends with the mainstream, the mundane and ordinary with the spectacular and provocative, and the serious with the silly. In this manner, the analysis lays bare the strategies through which NRM seeks to soften, trivialise, and normalise neo-Nazi discourse using the power and appeal of culture and entertainment.

Gendering Web2.0 Sociotechnical Affordances of Far-Right Metapolitics

“…Consequently, the study adds greater nuance to previous analyses of other metapolitical projects in the global North (Feshami, 2021; Maly, 2019; Paul, 2021). In this respect, it underlines the strategic location of AM as both a significant ideological hub for the European “New Right” network and its primary place among other far-right entities in Sweden (Askanius, 2021; Lundström & Lundström, 2021; Merrill & Åkerlund, 2018). These findings were intrinsically connected to theoretical developments which allowed particular phenomena to be critically discerned and understood—specifically, the concept masculinity of crises , which was underlined with a superordinate intersectionality perspective (Leek & Kimmel, 2015; Norocel et al, 2020), which I would argue allows the move beyond the sensationalist and asystemic imprecision of the “toxic masculinity” concept (Waling, 2019).…”

“…In the Swedish context, some contributions have drawn attention to the way digital cultural expressions of far-right ideology complement displays of violent mobilization, contribute to the cementing of a sense of community and belonging, and soften and normalize far-right opinions. This is achieved either by means of podcasts (Askanius, 2021; Lundström & Lundström, 2021) or by using such platforms as Facebook (Merrill & Åkerlund, 2018).…”

“…Digital ethnography takes advantage of the theoretical versatility granted by the concept of affordances (boyd, 2011; Bucher & Helmond, 2017; Hutchby, 2001; Khazraee & Novak, 2018; McVeigh-Schultz & Baym, 2015) by unveiling the sociotechnical contextual relational properties of the digital metapolitical struggle spearheaded by AM. In so doing, it provides nuance to analyses of similar metapolitical pursuits in the global North (Feshami, 2021; Maly, 2019; Paul, 2021), as well as expanding the critical analyses of the far right in Sweden (Askanius, 2021; Lundström & Lundström, 2021; Merrill & Åkerlund, 2018), by centering on the importance of gender and the normative role of masculinity within such ecosystems (Blee, 2020; Ralph-Morrow, 2022; Vandiver, 2020). The concept of masculinity of crises is combined with a superordinate intersectionality perspective (Leek & Kimmel, 2015; Norocel et al, 2020) to suggest a way past the sensationalist and asystemic vagueness of “toxic masculinity” conceptualization (Waling, 2019).…”

“…Equally, the expansive Web2.0 sociotechnical affordances (boyd, 2011; Bucher & Helmond, 2017) of far-right metapolitics connect a complex digital ecology (McVeigh-Schultz & Baym, 2015, p. 2) of platforms, blogs, and Internet sites that center on particular understandings of masculinity and gender relations (Blee, 2020, p. 417; Vandiver, 2020, p. 155). Although “Sweden has long been a global epicenter for white supremacist activism and ‘intellectualism’” (Askanius, 2021, p. 20), to date there are no studies examining the gendered trajectory of contemporary far-right metapolitics in Sweden. In that respect, I focus here on Arktos Media (hereafter, AM).…”

Murder fantasies in memes: fascist aesthetics of death threats and the banalization of white supremacist violence

“…The ability to detect, decode and correctly interpret the images is dependent on the viewer's background knowledge. We draw on previous international research on far-right iconography and symbolism (Bogerts & Fielitz, 2019;Doerr, 2017;Greene, 2019;Miller-Idriss, 2018 and on the specificities of Sweden's extreme-right imagery (Askanius, 2021a;2021b;Ekman, 2014;Kølvraa, 2019;Lööw, 2015;Merill, 2020) to establish the contextual knowledge needed to decipher the visual codes and subcultural ephemera that NRM uses to promote and banalise violence and death threats.…”