Global Symbols, Local Bans

This chapter analyzes symbols borrowed from non-German movements and global or pan-Aryan extremists. Here, the chapter also includes the appropriation of nonextremist products that have been assigned new meaning as well as symbols and codes that are in languages other than German. The chapter highlights the multivocality of far right symbols that are simultaneously nationalist and global. It suggests that this multivocality is further amplified by the ironies of far right youth deployment of non-German symbols, while simultaneously adhering to anti-immigrant sentiments or enacting violence against ethnic and racial minorities in the name of the German nation. The chapter draws both on an analysis of images and of young people's interpretation of “global” symbols deployed in the commercialized products to argue that far right ideologies have broadened, in the global era, beyond (mere) national borders. It suggests that there are parallels for how other geographically dispersed extremist ideologies—from Islamist extremism to ecoterrorism—might mobilize followers across national and linguistic boundaries. The chapter also analyzes legal disputes about the bans and examine youth reactions to school bans of particular symbols and codes as well as teachers' discussions of the enforcement of those bans. Ultimately, it argues that banning policies tend to backfire, further contributing to the game-playing aspect of code modification that make the symbols appealing in the first place.

Introduction

This introductory chapter discusses the emergence of the extremist commercial market and how it has coincided with one of the most significant waves of far right popularity in Europe in recent memory. The past several years have witnessed a steady increase in far right wing politics and social movements across Europe. Such protests and violent episodes exist in a context in which far right, nationalist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and racist rhetoric and discourse has risen across Europe. These developments pose significant challenges for countries that have spent decades rebuilding democratic societies in the post-World War II era and have firmly committed to policies and practices that protect pluralistic communities. Academics and policy makers have struggled to understand the diverse causes and dynamics that have made the far right so appealing for so many people—that appear, in other words, to have made the extreme more mainstream.

Dying for a Cause, Causing Death

This chapter examines historical and contemporary far right wing symbols that directly depict, reference, or evoke death or dying through reference to historical myths and legends as well as contemporary acts of violence. It traces three ways in which the far right deploys symbols of death: abstract death, specific deaths and death threats, and reference to the death of a civilization or entire way of life. The chapter argues that the iconography of death helps evoke fear and produce anxiety among viewers, in part by breaching societal taboos that deem death unspeakable and by evoking death and violence in the name of the nation. By linking depictions of weapons that can cause death; illustrations or references to blood, war, physical fighting or confrontation; or violence to a particular vision of the nation, the chapter argues that such iconography makes coded or oblique references to contemporary immigration and diversity in ways that indirectly or directly threaten members of minority and nonwhite groups. Symbols of death are thus a performative strategy to demonstrate fearlessness and suggest violence as a means to achieve nationalist or extremist goals.

Historical Fantasies, Fantastical Myths

This chapter undertakes a careful analysis of commercial iconography and accompanying slogans and textual references to Norse and Germanic mythology in T-shirts and other products. It combines the analysis with interview data explaining how youth interpret the meaning of these symbols and myths. The chapter argues that the fantasy of Nordic heritage—and all the positive traits associated to be a part of that heritage—including loyalty, purity, beauty, integrity, and honesty—appeal to youth as a strategy for handling the uncertainty of the postmodern era. It shows how fantastical myths and symbols are used to directly depict or evoke a sense of loss, a sense of a particular way of life “slipping away,” or a sense of urgency around a need for preservation, survival, resurrection, or rebirth of a particular kind of nation. The chapter argues that they help to crystallize a kind of “magical thinking” about the death (or potential death) of a blood-based ancestral group. In closing, the chapter links these arguments to new theoretical work about the appeal of Nazism and fascism as rooted in the loss of stability in the global, postmodern era.

Branding Identity

This chapter focuses on the ways in which symbolic codes are manipulated and deployed in the iconography and text of clothing products. It focuses in particular on the use of codes that draw on alphanumeric combinations or on historical references. Such codes are seen not only on T-shirts and other clothing products but also on tattoos, license plates, accessories, and even giant Styrofoam letters in football stadium stands. Some alphanumeric and historical codes are co-opted from other popular youth cultural scenes and then stripped of their original cultural referents. The chapter traces the game-playing aspect of the codes, by showing how young people (and commercial companies) adapt the codes and their display in order to navigate bans of particular symbols and brands. Drawing on interview data with young Germans in and around the far right scene, it also looks both at whether and how youth understand and interpret embedded far right codes, and at how they consume the clothing and products more generally.

Trying on Extremism

This chapter situates the empirical base of this book within theories of culture, nationalism, iconography, and youth extremist subcultures. It begins by describing two prevailing notions of how culture “works”—one that presents culture as a coherent meaning system and the other that characterizes it as a “tool kit” of actions and strategies. The chapter also addresses theories of extremism and youth subcultures, arguing that previous research on nationalism and extremism has paid more attention to political dimensions than cultural ones. Finally, it links far right commercial symbols to recent scholarship on visual symbols, arguing that attention to the aesthetic dimensions of far right subculture is particularly overdue in light of the recent “iconic” turn in the social sciences. As the chapter points out, sociologists' ongoing attention to Marxist understanding of economic objects and their relationship to class-based exploitation has led many scholars to overlook the potential for economic objects to have constitutive power for individuals' lives, identities, sense of belonging, or—in this case—the extremist participation of consumers.

Conclusion

This concluding chapter teases out two sets of implications illuminated in the book: one for our understanding of culture and one for our understanding of nationalism and extremism. Both implications rest on the evidence presented in the previous chapters of how the use of coded symbols can serve as a mechanism both of belonging and of resistance, helping youth feel connected to other insiders in the far right scene while simultaneously expressing resistance against mainstream society. The chapter argues that this “push and pull” of belonging and resistance ought to expand our understanding of gateways to radicalization and violence by showing how commercialized extremist products—and other “lifestyle elements” like tattoos or far right wing music—help strengthen racist, nationalist, and ideological identification and act as conduits of resistance to mainstream society. In the German case, the commercialized, coded references and symbols—many of which use humor or aggressive coded references to historical atrocities against Jews, Muslims, and others deemed not to belong—desensitize and socialize consumers and their peers and dehumanize victims. Disaffected and disenfranchised youth who enter extremist and radical scenes through their consumption of subcultural elements like tattoos, clothing, styles, or music may become gradually more involved with extremist ideologies. Far from being mere “subcultural style,” commercialized extremist products can be a gateway to extremist scenes, radicalization, and violence. Style and aesthetic representation thus need to be considered more seriously for their potential role in radicalization.

Soldier, Sailor, Rebel, Rule Breaker

This chapter focuses on how youth fashion and style serve as markers and expressions of belonging and resistance in ways that mutually reinforce masculinity and nationalism. The chapter shows that style is deeply personal and intentional for young people. While research on young women has long discussed issues of body image, the interview data discussed here shows that clothing choices are also embedded in body image and in conceptions of masculinity for young men. The chapter focuses in particular on two emotional articulations of masculinity that are heavily marketed through the products: the desire for male comradeship and belonging, and the urge to express resistance, frustration, and anger at mainstream society. It also shows how the products idealize male strength and physicality, drawing on muscular, tattooed Viking warriors with inflated biceps and hypermasculine models that may appeal to adolescent males who feel pressured to conform to scripted ideals about appropriate masculine behavior and physique. Hypermasculine symbols like Viking gods thus become intertwined with youth fantasies of a romantic, pure, and untroubled past in ways that may help them navigate the transition to adult life and uncertain labor markets.