Free e-prints of some of my articles

I have a number of free e-prints of my articles published with Routledge. Here they are:

"The Palingenetic Thrust of Russian Neo-Eurasianism: Ideas of Rebirth in Aleksandr Dugin's Worldview", Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, Vol. 9, No. 4 (2008), pp. 491-506. E-print link.

Applying Roger Griffin’s methodological approach to generic fascism, the article analyses individual – socio‐political, cultural and esoteric – themes within Dugin’s doctrine, treating them as elements of a larger integral concept of rebirth that constitutes the core of Neo‐Eurasianism. The article highlights the highly syncretic nature of this ideological core, a direct result of the ‘mazeway resynthesis’ that has conditioned Dugin’s worldview. It argues that this process has been necessitated by his self‐appointed task of envisioning a new stage of history beyond Russia’s present decadent and ‘liminoid’ situation, one that he sees only coming about as the result of a ‘geopolitical revolution’. The variant of Eurasionism that results has the function of a political religion containing a powerful palingenetic thrust towards a new Russia and new West. In conclusion, it is suggested that the new order aspired to by Dugin could only be realised by establishing a totalitarian regime.

Ian Read (Fire+Ice) plagiarised "Gilded by the Sun"

Fire+Ice's "Gilded by the Sun" is regarded, by the fans, as one of the best songs of this apoliteic band.

However, very few know that Ian Read, leader of Fire+Ice, plagiarised most of the song lyrics from The Anvil of Ice (Winter of the World, Vol. 1) written by Scottish fantasy/sci-fi author Michael Scott Rohan and published in New York in 1986. Below is the comparison of the Rohan's and Read's versions of the song (Rohan's version does not have a title).

Fascist Radicalism and the New Media - podcasts

Fascist Radicalism and the New Media Symposium

Podcasts and presentations, by Backdoor Broadcasting Company -

Welcome (MP3)
- Doug Rae, Associate Dean of School of Social Sciences
- Dr Matthew Feldman, Director of the Radicalism and New Media Group

Keynote Talk: Gerry Gable (MA Crim.), Searchlight Magazine
‘Confronting Right-Wing Extremism in a Western Democracy’

Panel 1: New Media and the Resurgent British Fascism (Chair: Matthew Feldman)
- Dr Paul Jackson, University of Northampton: ‘The English Defence League and Far-Right Politics’
- Trevor Preston, University of Northampton: ‘From Billboard to Broadband: Cyber-Terrorism and the Extreme Right Wing’
- Benedict Addis, HP Labs: ‘Covert communities: How the Internet Fosters Extremism’

Panel 2: New Media and European Fascisms (Chair: Paul Jackson)
- Dr Matthew Feldman, University of Northampton: ‘Universal Nazism in Britain: The Case of the Aryan Strike Force’
- Dr Anna Castriota, University of Cardiff: ‘Julius Evola on the Web: The Fascist Ideal of “Europe as Aryanland”’
- Dr Anton Shekhovtsov, University of Northampton: ‘Far-Right Music in Europe: Songs of Hate and Devotion’

Panel 3: Practitioners on the Far-Right (Chair: Paul Jackson)
- East Midlands Community Contact Unit: ‘Experiences of a Regional Intervention Unit in Addressing Violent Extremism’
- Durham Constabulary: ‘Operation CONSTELLATION – The Right Wing Threat’

Concluding Discussion and Closing Remarks (Chair: Matthew Feldman) (MP3)

Who Makes the Nazis?

This blog is highly recommended -

Who Makes the Nazis?
Keeping an eye on the neo-fascists burrowing their way into a subculture near you

Who Makes the Nazis? is a site focused on the fascist presence in various 'transgressive' (by their own estimation) musical subcultures. The claim is that at the fringes of these milieus, ideas about the sanctity of art and the irresponsibility and fundamental 'amorality' of the artist provide perfect cover behind which fascist and pro-fascist ideologues are allowed to spread their ideas. Currently these cultures include 'post-industrial', 'martial', 'neo-folk', 'apocalyptic folk' and 'darkwave', among others. It is not a matter of condemning these subcultures, which in fact contain many non-fascist, liberal, socialist, anti-fascist, etc., supporters, but rather of drawing a clear line between the fascists and non-fascists within them by showing the latter the nature and extent of the problem, in the hope that they will themselves marginalise and ultimately reject fascist participation in their 'scene'.

(Just in case you don't know: "Who Makes the Nazis?" is a title of one of the Fall's songs.)

Article on apoliteic music in Russian

A friend of mine has translated my article on apoliteic music into Russian, so here it is -

Аполитеическая музыка: неофолк, мартиал-индастриал и "метаполитический фашизм"

Von Thronstahl: Germanium Metallicum

I hate that Von Thronstahl released their new album Germanium Metallicum after I had written my article on apoliteic music!



There is an interesting text in the booklet accompanying the above-mentioned album -

This album is the result of a collaboration between young artists from seven countries - united in their creative will, and conspired by their apprehension for their Europe, which should be both a home and a fortress for their culture and their children.
Protecting their holy values, a young generation of Europeans are about to strengthen the resistance against all forms of imminence: both from the outside and from the inside. And, if necessary, even against their own governments, for now they betray the essential interests of their people.
Pure and noble are the hearts of young idealists, pure and noble is the element of Germanium Metallicum. The homeopathic effects of this Germanium Metallicum is also helping to vitalise the power of resistance and it makes contact with the inner will and determination. So this is a worthy symbol for an alchemic transformation; physically and spiritually.

(Small wonder that a Russian New Right groupuscule "Peoples' Rights" has published a lengthy review of Germanium Metallicum on their web-site.)

I would have definitely quoted this text in my article, as it is such a revealing example of the far-right inner immigration! And, speaking of the inner immigration: Von Thronstahl is citing George Orwell in the same booklet: in its turn, that is a nice example of the far right's habitual appropriation of the left-wing legacy -

Being in a minority, even a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.
(George Orwell, 1984).

What would have Orwell said....

Apoliteic music (comment 1)

I have received many responses to my recent article on apoliteic music. Due to time constraints (unfortunately, time is not cyclic for me!), I could/can not answer all the responses, but I would like to comment on some of them here, in my blog. The first comment is on Kevin's response.

Hello Anton,
I just finished reading your article "Apoliteic Music" and found it quite interesting. Especially the topic of Apoliteic and its relation to Jünger and Evola. Although I'm not convinced many (perhaps only a handful really) understand Ernst Jünger in the neofolk/industrial movement, despite his name dropping.

You are absolutely right. I asked a few artists who participated the Der Waldgänger compilation, and they told me that they had not read Jünger's Der Waldgang. I am sure, however, that some of the bands (or at least some of their members) did read this work: e.g. Von Thronstahl and Lady Morphia, while other artists might have read some other Jünger piece(s). As for genuine understanding of Jünger: well, let us think who is Jünger for an average apoliteic artist. He is a German nationalist, a Warrior, and a writer who glorified Aristocratic Values and criticised the decadence of the modern world. For some artists this short profile is sufficient, and since Jünger is an icon in specific "highbrow" circles, it is "trendy" and "cool" to refer to him. However, in the terms of the musical scene, the apoliteic message does not suffer much from such a sketchiness: only a true gourmet can distinguish between allegedly similar wines, and these people are rare.

I would almost contend that the "non political" answers to right wing allegations you mention with for example Folkstorm have more to do with being not able to provide appropriate answers or using fascist imagery for "shock value" and purely aesthetic purposes.

There are two issues: (1) reaction to the challenges of modernity and (2) employment of fascist imagery for aesthetic purposes. Since the first issue is dealt with in your article (on which I will comment later), I will consider only the second issue now.
Saying that fascist imagery is presented just for "aesthetic purposes" is a common excuse within the apoliteic Neo-Folk/Martial Industrial scene. I would not take it at face value.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s fascist imagery was rather popular among certain British bands and artists: Sex Pistols, Siouxsie Sioux, Throbbing Gristle, Joy Division and some others. It was time of "high Thatcherism" and left-wing cultural rebellion against the bourgeois society. Sex Pistols wore t-shirts with swastikas and at the same time sang "God save the Queen, and her fascist regime". That was what I call the "spit in the face of bourgeois society". The case of apoliteic music is totally different. There is not just imagery but the message articulated through music, lyrics, interviews, band names, album and song titles, cover art, style of dress, live performances. Back in the times of "high Thatcherism" fascist symbols were shocking and often "pointed cultural strikes", but now we have a scene with its own values, icons, and norms. It is important to stress that apoliteic bands and artists are explicitly perceived as (metapolitical) fascists by their numerous fans too: see, for example, such Last.fm groups like Neofolk Against Tolerance, Intolerance, White Europe, Corneliu Codreanu, and Honour, Heritage and European Pride!.

Finally, why should we isolate "aesthetic purposes" from fascism? Were not modernist buildings, massive marches, fims, etc. built, arranged and shot in the interwar period for genuine aesthetic reasons? As Roger Griffin argues,

[Italian and German fascist parties] became the protagonists and animators of a vast programme of cultural production, the most conspicuous of which took the form of ‘spectacular’ or ‘aesthetic’ displays of revolutionary energies (Roger Griffin, A Fascist Century: Essays by Roger Griffin. Ed. by Matthew Feldman (Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), p. 192.).

The issue of the "aesthetic" use of fascist imagery surely deserves further discussion. However, the argument that the employment of fascist imagery by specific Neo-Folk/Martial Industrial acts pursues an "aesthetic" aim and therefore has nothing to do with fascism is misleading: both Italian Fascists and German Nazis were committed to the aestheticisation of social life.

Apoliteic music

The December 2009 issue of Patterns of Prejudice features my article on apoliteic, or 'metapolitical fascist', music -

Anton Shekhovtsov, ‘Apoliteic music: Neo-Folk, Martial Industrial and “metapolitical fascism”’, Patterns of Prejudice, Volume 43, Issue 5 (December 2009), pp. 431-457.

Abstract

Shekhovtsov suggests that there are two types of radical right-wing music that are cultural reflections of the two different political strategies that fascism was forced to adopt in the 'hostile' conditions of the post-war period. While White Noise music is explicitly designed to inspire racially or politically motivated violence and is seen as part and parcel of the revolutionary ultra-nationalist subculture, he suggests that 'metapolitical fascism' has its own cultural reflection in the domain of sound, namely, apoliteic music. This is a type of music whose ideological message contains obvious or veiled references to the core elements of fascism but is simultaneously detached from any practical attempts to realize these elements through political activity. Apoliteic music neither promotes outright violence nor is publicly related to the activities of radical right-wing political organizations or parties. Nor can it be seen as a means of direct recruitment to any political tendency. Shekhovtsov's article focuses on this type of music, and the thesis is tested by examining bands and artists that work in such musical genres as Neo-Folk and Martial Industrial, whose roots lie in cultural revolutionary and national folk traditions.

The fully reference-linked version in PDF can be found here (subscription required), or you can read the article here.

Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World

Wikipedia says that the US punk band (and I would say the best US punk band) Ramones' eponymous album (1976) featured presumably the first references to Nazi themes in punk music. Significantly, these very first references were 'tongue-in-cheek'. One song from the Ramones album is of particular interest to me -

Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World

I'm a shock trooper in a stupor, yes I am
I'm a Nazi schatze, y'know I fight for fatherland
Little German boy
Being pushed around
Little German boy
In a German town
Today your love, tomorrow the world!

Originally, however, the song was titled "I'm a Nazi, Baby" and it started with "I'm a Nazi baby, a Nazi, yes I am". The Ramones' producer insisted the lyrics were changed, but the band turned back to the original lines on live versions of this song (check the 1977 CBGB video). The Ramones' vocalist, the late Joey Ramone, was Jewish, y'know.

The song was covered many times by other bands, most notably Metallica, although there exist even more unusual versions of the song (check, for example, the amateur piano version). Quite recently "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" was covered by the US band Cult of Youth, and I consider their version most interesting. The thing is that the Cult of Youth is a "metapolitical fascist" band, so when they play the Ramones' song they actually deprive it of any irony.

If you enlarge the image of this Cult of Youth guy, you will see an element of the tattoo on his left hand. This is a Star of Chaos. Although this symbol originates from Michael Moorcock's fantasy books, it was actually popularised through role-playing games, especially the Warhammer 40K series. It is also interesting that the Star of Chaos is now widely used among the European New Right (who can be considered "metapolitical fascists"), see for example Troy Southgate's Tradition & Revolution forum or Aleksandr Dugin's International Eurasian Movement's web-site.