“Red pill stories”: The political journeys of British neo-Nazi activists

• In Event: NARRCRIM Panel 2 Narrative Criminology

Abstract

How do people become neo-Nazis? How do they understand themselves and their worldviews? Patriotic Alternative (PA) is a new British ethnonationalist, fascist and neo-Nazi organisation. Key figures within PA are currently on trial for hate crimes and terrorism offences, and MPs have recently called for the organisation to be proscribed under counter-terrorism legislation. PA’s core propaganda message is the so-called “Great Replacement” or “White Genocide” conspiracy theory. This is the idea that ethnically homogenous populations in European nations are being replaced by people of non-European origin, and that this is being orchestrated by liberal, left-wing or Jewish elites. The narrative of “White Genocide” has directly inspired far-right terrorist attacks around the world.

PA has emerged from an online ecosystem of far-right content creators (live-streamers, podcasters and bloggers) and represents an attempt to bring those who have been “radicalised” online into real-world political activism by providing a “safe space” for fascists to meet, network and organise. PA’s leaders, organisers and activists produce a vast array of publicly accessible online multimedia content, offering a unique window into their worldview, beliefs and attitudes – as well their political journeys into the far right. These stories of personal transformation offer a rich seam of data: narratives of racial apocalypse, personal awakening, and political struggle interweave. This paper draws on narrative and cultural criminology to make sense of contemporary pathways into the far right, how its adherents understand their involvement, and the role of stories in instigating and sustaining participation in far-right organising and activism.

Author

• Tony Karas, Goldsmtihs, University of London