Fitting In, Standing Out: Ambivalence and Multivocality in Far Right German Youth Style

• In Event: 106 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Ideological Movements of the Left and Right

Abstract

The German far right youth subcultural scene is at the forefront of a dramatic transformation in far right subcultural style over the past decade, as the previously uniform 'skinhead' style has been replaced with a variety of commercial, mainstream-style clothing, often through the use of brands deliberately coded with extremist symbols and references. Drawing on the analysis of 51 semi-structured interviews with youth in and around the far right scene conducted in 2013-14 in Germany, this article investigates the meaning of subcultural style for young people. The paper advances two primary arguments. First, we suggest that subcultural style helps youth navigate two major emotional impulses of adolescence: fitting in, and standing out. The findings suggest that these two emotional impulses may be particularly appealing to youth who are attracted to extremist subcultures or who have experienced marginalization or disenfranchisement from mainstream ideals of academic, career and life success. Second, we find that although style is unequivocally important to youth as a primary orientation point for their own identity as well as how they understand other youth, they are reluctant to attach fixed meanings to particular symbols or styles when regarding others. As a result, we find strong support for theoretical claims about the multivocality of subcultural style and symbols. The paper closes with a brief discussion of pedagogical implications for educators and activists who work on de-radicalization, anti-racist and extremist intervention programs.

Authors

• Cynthia Miller-Idriss, American University

• Annett Graefe, New York University