Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson - Cultures of Post-war British Fascism

Cultures of Post-War British Fascism

In post-war Britain, cultural interventions were a feature of fascist parties and movements, just as they were in Europe. This book makes a new major contribution to existing scholarship which begins to discuss British fascism as a cultural phenomenon. A collection of essays from leading academics, this book uncovers how a cultural struggle lay at the heart of the hegemonic projects of all varieties of British fascism. Such a cultural struggle is enacted and reflected in the text and talk, music and literature of British fascism.

Where other published works have examined the cultural visions of British fascism during the inter-war period, this book is the first to dedicate itself to detailed critical analysis of the post-war cultural landscapes of British fascism. Through discussions of cultural phenomena such as folk music, fashion and neo-Nazi fiction, among others, Cultures of Post-War British Fascism builds a picture of post-war Britain which emphasises the importance of understanding these politics with reference to their corresponding cultural output.

This book is essential reading for undergraduates and postgraduates studying far-right politics and British history.

Nigel Copsey is Professor of Modern History at Teesside University. With Graham Macklin, he is series editor of Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right.

John E. Richardson is a Reader in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. His research interests include structured social inequalities, British fascism, critical discourse studies and argumentation.

Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right

Series editors: Nigel Copsey, Teesside University, and Graham Macklin, Honorary Fellow, Southampton University

This new book series focuses upon fascist, far right-wing and right-wing politics within a historical context. Fascism falls within the far right but the far right also extends to so-called radical-right populism. Boundaries are not fixed and it is important not to overlook points of convergence and exchange with the mainstream right.

The series will include books with a broad thematic focus suitable for students and teachers. These will be available in hardback and paperback. It will also include more specialist books, aimed largely at subject specialists which will appear in hardback and e-book format only.

Titles include:

Cultures of Post-War British Fascism

Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson

France and Fascism: February 1934 and the Dynamics of Political Crisis

Brian Jenkins and Chris Millington

Cultures of Post-War British Fascism

Edited by
Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson

First published 2015

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 selection and editorial material, Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson; individual chapters, the contributors

The right of Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson to be identified as author of the editorial material, and of the individual authors as authors of their contributions, has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Cultures of post-war British fascism / edited by Nigel Copsey and John E. Richardson.

pages cm. (Routledge studies in fascism and the far right)

Summary: "In Post-War Britain cultural interventions were a feature of fascist parties and movements, just as they were in Europe. This book makes a new major contribution to existing scholarship which begins to discuss British fascism as a cultural phenomenon. A collection of essays from leading academics, this book uncovers how a cultural struggle lay at the heart of the hegemonic projects of all varieties of British fascism. Such a cultural struggle is enacted and reflected in the text and talk, music and literature of British fascism" Provided by publisher.

1. Fascism and cultureGreat BritainHistory. 2. FascismGreat Britain History. 3. British National Party (1982-) 4. Great BritainPolitics and government1945- I. Copsey, Nigel, 1967- editor of compilation. II. Richardson, John E., 1974- editor of compilation.

DA589.7.C86 2015

320.5330941dc23

2014032441

ISBN: 978-1-138-84683-8 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-84684-5 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-72725-7 (ebk)

Contents

NIGEL COPSEY AND JOHN E. RICHARDSON

JANET DACK

STEVEN WOODBRIDGE

THOMAS LINEHAN

MARTIN DURHAM

PAUL JACKSON

NIGEL COPSEY

EMILY TURNER-GRAHAM

RYAN SHAFFER

KARL SPRACKLEN

GRAHAM MACKLIN

JOHN E. RICHARDSON

Nigel Copsey is Professor of Modern History at Teesside University. He is the author of Anti-Fascism in Britain (2000) and Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy (2004, 2008). He is also co-editor of British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State (2005); Varieties of Anti-Fascism: Britain in the Inter-War Period (2010); and British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives (2011). With Graham Macklin, he is series editor of Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right.

Janet Dack is an associate lecturer in History at Teesside University. Her PhD, In from the Cold: British Fascism and the Mainstream Press, 192539 was awarded in 2010, and published in 2012. She has also published chapters in Varieties of Anti-Fascism; Britain in the Inter-War Period (2010), edited by Nigel Copsey and Andrzej Olechnowicz; and Fascism and the Jews: Italy and Britain (2011), edited by Daniel Tilles and Salvatore Garau.

Martin Durham was Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Wolverhampton. His research interests focus on different aspects of right-wing politics, particularly in Britain and the USA, and include neoconservatism, the Christian right and the extreme right. His most recent book is White Rage. The Extreme Right and American Politics (Routledge, 2007).

Paul Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Northampton. He is co-editor of Wiley-Blackwells journal Religion Compass: Modern Ideologies and Faith, and editor of Bloomsburys book series A Modern History of Politics and Violence. His books include Great War Modernisms and the New Age Magazine (2012) and he is currently writing an ideological biography of Colin Jordan.

Thomas Linehan is a lecturer in History at Brunel University. His research interests mainly relate to fringe political movements in Britain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His main publications include Modernism and British Socialism (2012); Communism in Britain, 1920