- Martin Hamre, Freie Universität Berlin: 'Nordic Cooperation as a Sacred Duty?' Fascist regionalism in Scandinavia in the 1930s
- Birgitte P. Haanshuus & Anders Ravik Jupskås, C-REX, University of Oslo: Far-right protest mobilization: The case of Norway
- Morgan Finnsiö & Daniel Poohl, Expo Foundation: Active Clubs in Sweden: Origins, growth, members and movement dynamics
Abstracts
“Nordic cooperation as a sacred duty?” Fascist regionalism in Scandinavia in the 1930s
Martin Kristoffer Hamre, Freie Universität Berlin
The paper examines Nordic cooperation among fascist parties from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway in the 1930s, embedded in a longer history of far-right politics and violent extremism in Northern Europe. Based on a transnational and comparative approach, it explores the complex relationship between four parties that emerged in the period between 1930 and 1934, the Danish National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark (Danmarks Naionalsocialistiske Arbejderparti, DNSAP, established in 1930), the Norwegian National Unity (Nasjonal Samling, NS, est. 1933), and two Swedish rivals, the National Socialist Workers’ Party (Nationalsocialistiska Arbetarepartiet, NSAP, est. 1933), and the National League of Sweden (Sveriges Nationella Förbund, SNF, originally est. 1915, but reshaped 1935). The paper discusses factors that enabled and hindered cross-border cooperation among these parties in Scandinavia in the 1930s and how this cooperation was organized in political practice.
In particular, the paper analyzes attempts of the respective party leadership to create joint meetings and conferences among these parties, culminating in the so-called Nordic Appeal (Nordisk Appell), a common Danish-Norwegian-Swedish conference hosted in November 1939 that showcased publicly Scandinavian fascist solidarity. This specific form of transnational solidarity was based on ideas of Nordic racial unity and common enemies, namely liberalism, communism, parliamentarism and ‘international Jewry’, legitimizing violence and a joint anti-democratic revolutionary fascist upheaval in Scandinavia.
Far-right protest mobilization: The case of Norway
Anders Ravik Jupskås & Birgitte P. Haanshuus, C-REX, University of Oslo
The revival of far-right street politics has been observed in many countries, including the Nordic countries. Yet, there are few systematic assessments of the nature of this extra-parliamentary mobilization. What kind of actors are involved? What are the key issues used to mobilize? And to what extent have actors adopted violent or more conventional forms of protest repertoires? Based on the Comparative Far-right Protest in Europe (CFP) dataset, this paper provides an empirical analysis of the key features of contemporary far-right protest mobilization in Norway, including the main actors involved, the extent of mobilization over time, the issues in focus and the repertoires of action used. The paper also discusses the alliance structure and mainstreaming of far-right politics in Norway, as well as the impact (or lack of impact) of the European economic crisis, the migrant crisis, and the Covid crisis on the Norwegian far-right political landscape over the last 15 years.
Active Clubs in Sweden: Origins, growth, members and movement dynamics
Morgan Finnsiö & Daniel Poohl, Expo Foundation
Active Clubs, a novel type of organization within the transnational right-wing extremist and white supremacist milieu, though with echoes of classical types of fascist organizing, have spread across Europe in the last year after originating in the United States. In Sweden, Active Clubs are proving a fast-growing and vigorous form of extremism in serious competition with more traditional and established groups like the Nordic Resistance Movement.
What are the origins of the Active Club phenomenon? What are the similarities and differences with other contemporary and historical forms of far-right organizing? How, where and why have they spread across Sweden so quickly? Who are the people organizing, leading, joining and hoping to join the Active Clubs? What risks do they pose to the public, to minorities and to the communities in which they are active? What are their relations to the rest of the far right in terms of discourse, positioning, alliances and antagonisms, and why?
The Expo Foundation wishes to present its original research in an attempt to address these questions, which are of urgent importance for the public, for targeted minority groups, and for scholars and practitioners in the field of preventing and countering violent extremism.