“We Are the White Aryan Warriors”: Violence, Homosociality, and the Construction of Masculinity in the National Socialist Movement in Sweden

Christer Mattsson,Thomas Johansson

doi:10.1177/1097184x20985582

Abstract

Violence is a significant element in the constitution, emotional structure, and reproduction of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism. This article examines the life histories of former neo-Nazis and explores the roles of violence in the Swedish skinhead culture and neo-Nazi organizations. We conducted individual and group interviews with seven former neo-Nazis who held high positions in the movement. Our study focused on violence and violent acts, as well as feelings of redemption and regret. The findings show that violence had always been a part of our subjects’ lives. Violence was a means to solve disagreements and position themselves within the organizational hierarchy. Among our informants, masculinity was displayed and constructed through the performance of being “real men” within the circles of skinheads and neo-Nazis. The portrayal of real men as Aryan warriors attracted violent men to these circles to a greater extent and for longer than in other Nordic countries.

Highlights

Violence is a significant element in the constitution, emotional structure, and reproduction of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism
Through the life stories of seven former skinheads and neo-Nazis, we explore what roles violence plays in the Swedish skinhead culture and in neo-Nazi organizations
We examine how violence and masculinity play out in our subjects’ childhood, the period of recruitment into gangs, and later into the neo-Nazi movement

Summary

Introduction

Violence is a significant element in the constitution, emotional structure, and reproduction of right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism. Through the life stories of seven former skinheads and neo-Nazis, we explore what roles violence plays in the Swedish skinhead culture and in neo-Nazi organizations. Since the 1980s, violence has been an integral and visual part of the Swedish racist skinhead culture. It is not always so within neo-Nazi organizations. In many cases there is a close relationship between the skinhead culture and various political movements. Skinheads and the more subcultural parts of neo-Nazism often function as recruiters, demonstrating that sometimes violent capital is useful (Blazak 2001; Pollard 2016)

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