Separate or equal? The emergence of an all-female group in Norway's rightist underground

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 9, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 122-164

  Fangen, Katrine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OSLO   (Norway)

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EID: 0031319731     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546559708427419     Document Type: Article

References (171)

1. I intend to discuss methodological aspects of my study in a forthcoming article. The literature on the specific problems connected to the study of far-right groups is scarce. However, some authors have given reports which highlight important aspects of such studies. See, for example, Kathleen Blee, 'Evidence, Empathy, and Ethics: Lessons from Oral Histories of the Klan', The Journal of American History (Sept. 1993).
2. Robin Morgan, The Demon Lover. On the Sexuality of Terrorism (London: Methuen 1989) p.195.
3. Eileen MacDonald, Shoot the Women First (London: Fourth Estate 1991) p.1.
4. Leonard Weinberg and William Lee Eubank, 'Italian Women Terrorists', Terrorism 9/3 (1987) pp.254-7.
5. Barbara Alpern Engel and Clifford N. Rosenthal, Five Sisters. Women Against the Tsar (NY: Schocken Books 1977) pp.xxiv, 28.
6. For example, Vera Figner was responsible for the preparation and the keeping of the bomb and was a central figure behind the assassination of the Tsar. In 1880 she was chosen as the foreign correspondence secretary of the People's Will. She was also responsible for coordinating the effort to woo foreign opinion. See David C. Rapoport, 'The International World as Some Terrorists have seen if. A Look at a Century of Memoirs', in David C. Rapoport (ed.), Inside Terrorist Organizations (London: Frank Cass 1988) p.37. See also Engel and Rosenthal (note 5), p.43.
7. Considerable data indicate that many women join terrorist groups because they have become affiliated with terrorist men. Leonard Weinberg and William Lee Eubank studied the biographies of 451 women who were active in Italian terrorist groups, both rightist and leftist, between 1970 and 1984, finding that in two-thirds of the case stories, the women had become involved because they were married to terrorist men, and in most of the other cases the women had become involved via a male sibling. A significantly higher proportion of the women had prior blood or love ties with terrorists, as compared to the men. For the few men who were involved because of family ties, the connections were fraternal or paternal rather than marital or romantic. Furthermore, the men had a history of political involvement predating their terrorist activities, whereas most of the women did not. In other words, men had a greater tendency to become involved in terrorism because of politics, whereas women more often became involved because of men. Interestingly, of the women studied, only 7 per cent held positions of leadership and participated in major terrorist operations such as kidnapping and assassination. See Weinberg and Eubank (note 4), pp.253, 255. See also Morgan (note 2), pp.203-4.
8. This holds true even for the leading women of the Red Army Faction (RAF): Eileen MacDonald (note 3), p.202, confirms that RAF women did not join terrorism because of feminist motives. Since they identified the interests of their male comrades as their own. Robin Morgan (note 2, p.207) argues that they were in practice followers whose orientation were not feminist but traditional female.
9. MacDonald (note 3), p.201.
10. MacDonald (note 3), p.205.
11. MacDonald (note 3), p.210.
12. MacDonald (note 3), p.200.
13. A leading woman within the Red Brigades says that 'Women remain enemies of any type of power whatsoever; they have a feeling of real hostility toward it. ... It's a rebellion, though more than a rebellion; it's a conviction that the power of one individual over another is a source of disaster and injustice'. 'Interview with Adriana Faranda', in Alison Jamieson, The Heart Attacked. Terrorism and Conflict in the Italian State (London: Maryon Boyars 1989) p.273.
14. Ibid., pp.64-5.
15. Ibid., p.67.
16. Kathleen Blee, Women of the Klan. Racism and Gender in the 1920s (Berkeley: University of California Press 1991) p.42.
17. Ibid., p.41.
18. Blee (note 1).
19. Claudia Koonz, Mothers in the Fatherland. Women, the Family and Nazi Politics (London: Jonathan Cape 1987) p.55.
20. Claudia Koonz, 'Women in Nazi Germany', in Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz (eds), Becoming Visible. Women in European History (Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1977) p.450.
21. Ibid., p.451.
22. Ibid., pp.459, 464-5.
23. Ibid., p.448.
24. Ibid., p.454; see also p.463.
25. Ibid., pp.448-9.
26. Demos Newsletter, No.24 (1993).
27. J. Mushaben, 'The Rise of Femi-Nazis? Female Participation in Right-Extremist Movements in Unified Germany', paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, 31 Aug.-3 Sept. 1995, p.25.
28. Heléne Lööw, 'Tant brun - man och kvinnor I vit makt varlden och i de nationella laden 1937-1992' (Aunt Brown - Men and Women in the White Power World and in the Nationalist Parties 1937-1992), Historisk tidskrift 4 (1992) p.559.
29. Mushaben (note 27), p.24; Demos Newsletter, No.40 (Feb. 1996).
30. Mushaben (note 27), p.24; Demos Newsletter, No.24 (1993).
31. Mushaben (note 27), p.24; Internet information.
32. Internet information.
33. Lööw (note 28), p.559.
34. Fritt Forum, No.5 (1996).
35. Ibid.
36. Heléne Lööw, 'White Power Rock 'n Roll. A Growing Industry', in Jeffrey Kaplan and Tore Bjørgo (eds), Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture (Boston: Northeastern University Press, forthcoming 1998).
37. M. Durham, 'Women and the National Front', in Luciano Cheles et al, (eds), Neo-Fascism in Europe (London: Longman 1991) p.276.
38. Heléne Lööw, 'Rasistisk undergroundkultur' (Racist Underground Culture), in Rapport till samordningskansliet for brottsförebyggande atgärder, Stockholms Stad.
39. Lööw (note 28) 'Tant brun', p.554.
40. Demos Newsletter, No.40 (Feb. 1996); Faedrelandet, No. 11 (1995).
41. Demos Newsletter, No.40 (Feb. 1996); Faedrelandet, No. 11 (1995).
42. See Lund-rapporten (The Lund Report) regarding the Norwegian Special Branch. Document No.15 (1995-96), the Norwegian Government.
43. In 1981, several punks and freaks invaded a house in Oslo as squatters. They were later thrown out by the police but were, however, offered another house instead, which is now known as the Blitz house. Most of the users of this house call themselves anarchists; various rock groups and cultural organizations, as well as the women's radio station RadiOrakel are based there.
44. Fritt Forum, No.4 (1995).
45. L. Weinberg and W.L. Eubank, 'Leaders and Followers in Italian Terrorist Groups', Terrorism and Political Violence (hereafter TPV) 1/2 (April 1989).
46. See AFA Magazine, No.2 (1996) for an account of their actions during 1995. AFA Magazine was first published in 1995. Anti-Fascist Action was established in 1994. It is organized as a network of local groups, which in turn cooperate with other anti-racist groups such as SOS-Racism.
47. Ibid.
48. According to Norse mythology, the valkyries served Odin. They led battles and chose which warriors fell in battle. During battle, the valkyries would wear helmets on their heads and carry shields. The Vikings feared the valkyries because they thought them to be bad omens.
49. NUNS 88 stands for Young Norwegian National Socialists 88. The number 88 is used in white supremacist groups as a code for 'Heil Hitler'.
50. The number of active individuals varies, making it difficult to decide whether to count them as participants or not. According to a leading activist from the Viking group, 200 is probably the maximum number of people they would be able to gather if everyone connected to the underground turned up today; whereas forty persons are active on a more regular basis. (This section is based upon a tape-recorded interview on 24 April 1996.) A leading activist from the national socialist skinhead part of the underground reports that at a concert on New Year's Eve in 1995, they gathered 130 persons, to date the maximum number of persons gathered from the Norwegian rightist underground. (Interview, 17 Aug. 1996).
51. I have described the substantial differences among these various rightist groups in Katrine Fangen, 'Living out our Ethnic Instincts. Ideological Beliefs among Rightist Activists in Norway', in Kaplan and Bjørgo, Nation and Race (note 36).
52. Rhetorical differences between 'anti-immigrants' and young right-wing activists are discussed by Tore Bjørgo in his essay, 'Extreme Nationalism and Violent Discourses in Scandinavia: "The Resistance", "Traitors", and "Foreign Invaders"', in Tore Bjørgo (ed.), Terror from the Extreme Right (London: Frank Cass 1995).
53. I received this information when this agreement was put forward at a meeting at Den Norske Forening in March 1994.
54. See Kaplan and Bjørgo (note 36).
55. Combat 18's International Redwatch, No.1 (1996).
56. Fritt Forum, Nos.2-3 (1996).
57. According to my observations, and my discussion of the issue with both male and female activists.
58. Vera Oredsson, 'Jamstalldhet - en nationell product?' ('Equality [between the sexes] - a National Product?),-Nordisk Kamp, Nos.3-4 (1994), pp.4-5. Vera Oredsson is probably the only woman ever who has, for a period of time, been the leader of a National Socialist party (with both male and female members); see Lööw (note 28).
59. Koonz (note 20), p.451.
60. See my discussion of the term in Kaplan and Bjørgo (note 36).
61. Per Bangsund, Arvtagerne. Nazisme 1 Norge etter krigen (The Inheritors. Nazism in Norway after the War) (Oslo: Pax forlag 1989).
62. Especially interesting, perhaps, are her articles on homosexuality, considering that, according to several activists who were active at that time, she later separated from her husband because he had a male lover.
63. Asatru is from the Norse mythology.
64. The so-called Brumunddal Clash is described and analyzed by Froydis Eidheim, 'Hva har skjedd 1 Brumunddal? Bygdesamfunnet I motet med de fremmede og seg selv' (What has happened in Brumunddal? The Local Community Confronted by the Foreigners and Itself), NIBR-report, No.20 (1993).
65. The period when I carried out my field-work.
66. Fritt Forum ('Free Forum') is, according to its outlines, a free forum; that is, it is open for all persons and groups of the far right. The magazine does not allow explicit Nazi articles to be printed. However, it distributes fanzines and other issues with Nazi content through its distribution network, Nor-Effekt. The editor is 29 years old, and his co-editors are all young people. The magazine is, however, sponsored by a fund (also called Fritt Forum), made up by several elder nationalist politicians.
67. A. McRobbie and J. Garber, 'Girls and Subcultures', in Stanley et al. (eds), Resistance through Rituals (London: Hutchinson 1976).
68. The statutory age for sex in Norway is 16 years.
69. Weinberg and Eubank (note 4).
70. In some militant leftist groups, romantic relationships within the movement are viewed as a problem. See Alison Jamieson, 'Entry, Discipline and Exit in the Italian Red Brigades', TPV 2/1 (Spring 1990) pp.1-20.
71. Anne Campbell, The Girls in the Gang (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers 1993).
72. Koonz (note 19).
73. See also David C. Rapoport, Assassination and Terrorism (Toronto: CBC 1971).
74. Frill Forum, No.4 (1995).
75. The current Fascist party in Italy, with Mussolini's grandchild as a prominent female representative.
76. Tyra, like many of the other youngest women of the underground, fits Anne Campbell's description of the typical 'gang girl'. As Campbell puts it, 'Like the boys ... they enjoy excitement and trouble, which break the monotony of a life in which little attention is given to the future.... They admire toughness and verbal "smarts". ... Authority, in the shape of school, parents and police, is the enemy, but a welcome one since it generates confrontations and livens things up.' Campbell (note 70), pp.7-8.
77. McRobbie and Garber (note 66).
78. cf. Jamieson (note 69), p.8.
79. McRobbie and Garber (note 66) see the two-fold rebellion of 'gang girls' as defined both by their gender and by their lower class position. Actually, several women terrorists and revolutionaries have mentioned that the fact that they are women makes a double reason for joining the combat. See, for example, Engel and Rosenthal (note 5), p.xv. Julie Wheelwright discusses the problem of a woman who rebels against traditional gender roles by joining the British organization National Fascisti in 1924. As her involvement with the fascists demonstrates, her rebellion did not translate into a broader analysis of oppression; 'Rather, she allied herself with the most hierarchical and authoritative ideology of the day, embracing an extreme of masculinity'. Julie Wheelwright, Amazons and Military Maids. Women who Dressed as Men in the Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness (London: Pandora 1989) p.11.
80. For a description of 'Grufties', see Manfred Stock and Philipp Muhlberg, Die Scene von Innen. Skinheads, Grufties, Heavy Metals, Punks (Berlin: Links Druck Verlag 1990).
81. Field notes from 11 Aug. 1993.
82. I have heard of only a few instances of men in this movement hitting their partners. However, from time to time some males can act very dominantly, and order their women to come with them or to be quiet.
83. Interview, 9 March 1996.
84. Cf. Wheelwright's description of 'Colonel Barker'; Wheelwright (note 78), p.10: '... she joined not so much from patriotic motives as from the spice of adventure it introduced into life. The spice it lent to Barker's life included running the boxing programme designed to whip members into top physical condition to combat "the reds and the pinks" - and participating in the Sunday afternoon disruptions of Communist Party meetings in Hyde Park.' See also ibid., p.13: 'The male world became accessible in an exciting way.'
85. Interview, 9 March 1996.
86. Cf. Blee (note 16), p.80.
87. Bootboys, No.11 (1992).
88. Christopher Husbands, 'Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1980s', in Luciano Cheles et al. (eds), Neo-Fascism in Europe (London: Longman 1991) p.103. See also Demos Newsletter, No.40 (Feb. 1996) p.108. The trend is very much the same in Norway, although there are no statistical data available on the gender differences regarding racist and neo-fascist violence.
89. Christopher Husbands, 'Militant Neo-Nazism in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1980s', in Luciano Cheles et al. (eds), Neo-Fascism in Europe (London: Longman 1991) p.103. See also Demos Newsletter, No.40 (Feb. 1996) p.108. The trend is very much the same in Norway, although there are no statistical data available on the gender differences regarding racist and neo-fascist violence.
90. Interview, 11 Aug. 1993.
91. 'Havamal', Verse 43, in D.E. Martin (ed.), The Havamal: with Selections from other Poems of the Edda Illustrating the Wisdom of the North in Heathen Times (Cambridge: CUP 1923), quoted in Bootboys/Ragnarok 12/2 (1992).
92. There are several stories written about the differences between male vs. female terrorists. According to the head of the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, women terrorists are more dangerous than men because they trust solely their emotions, whereas men rely on their logical reasoning. Women, therefore, tend to act without thinking, whereas men hesitate before they act. See MacDonald (note 3), pp.222-5. Jamieson (note 13), p.67, argues in her study on the Italian Red Brigades that female terrorists may be rawer, more acute and more passionate than their male counterparts.
93. See Wheelwright (note 78) on the meaning of women who enter typical male worlds in order to become like them.
94. Field notes, and interview, 14 May 1994.
95. Field notes, 30 April 1994.
96. I have analyzed this event in Katrine Fangen, 'Skinheads i rodt, hvitt og blatt. En sosiologisk Studie fra "innsiden"' (Skinheads in red, white and blue. A sociological study from "inside"), UNGforsk-report, No.4 (1995) pp.27, 34-5. See also H. Lööw (note 36).
97. Interview, 5 July 1994.
98. Mushaben (note 27), p.20.
99. Campbell (note 70), p.7: '...her aim is to save him from his rowdy friends who are clearly a bad element, bringing out the worst in him'.
100. The term 'mattress' is used as a metaphor for sexually accessible women. The woman is thus pictured as a passive object, lying on the floor. This categorization of the women is, not surprisingly, similar to those found by John Clarke among British skinheads, and by Joyce Mushaben among German fascist skinheads. The skinheads described by Clarke talk of 'good girls' in contrast to 'slags' and 'scrubbers'; John Clarke, 'Style', in Stuart Hall et al. (eds), Resistance through Rituals (London: Hutchinson 1976) p. 190. Joyce Mushaben reports of German neo-fascists that they apply the term 'Unterlagen' to young women who embrace secondary and subordinate roles, among others, as easily accessible sexual objects; Mushaben (note 27), p.20. In other words, they use a term almost identical to that used by participants in the Norwegian rightist underground. These categories place certain women in subordinate and passive roles, regardless of how these women view their presence themselves.
101. Interview, 25 Jan. 1994.
102. Interview, 15 Sept. 1993.
103. Interview, 14 Aug. 1993.
104. Interview, 28 Jan. 1994.
105. Koonz (note 19).
106. I have described the males' views in more detail elsewhere: see Fangen (note 50).
107. Anne Campbell (note 70), p.9, discusses the problems 'gang girls' are confronted with no matter what role they choose to play: 'These types of roles tend to suggest a no-win situation for gang girls. As Sex Objects, they are cheap women rejected by the other girls, parents, social workers, and ironically by the boys themselves. As Tomboys, they are resented by the boys and ridiculed by family and friends who wait patiently for them to "grow out of it".'
108. In fact many parents try to remove their children from the rightist underground. It is therefore not unusual for females to be commanded to leave the underground by their parents. However, many defy these commands, and therefore have to move out of their parents' house at an early age. There seems also to be a trend that males defy their parents' demands more than the females do.
109. This argument was also common among Nazi women who started their own groups in the 1930s; see Koonz (note 20), p.450.
110. Fritt Forum, No.1 (1996). Cf. the emphasis of the Klanswomen that the WKKK was an organization for women, of women and by women, which no man should exploit to his individual gain: Blee (note 16), p.28.
111. The same was true for women who started a women's division of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. As Kathleen Blee (note 16), p.2, clearly points out, 'their activities and ideologies differed sufficiently from those of the Klansmen that an examination of the women's Klan changes our interpretation of the Klan as a whole'.
112. The fact that militant women tend to organize themselves less militarily than militant men seems to be a trend throughout history. For example, the female militants involved in the Russian Revolution did not put much emphasis on discipline and command hierarchies before they merged their all-female circle with a male group; see Engel and Rosenthal (note 5), p.28. Some exceptions do nonetheless exist. The Women's KKK adopted the militaristic hierarchical style of the male KKK, and both organizations used a strict command hierarchy; see Blee (note 16), pp.35-6.
113. Interview, 9 March 1996.
114. Interview, 24 April 1996.
115. Frigg was, according to Norse mythology, Odin's wife.
116. Interview, 9 March 1996.
117. Fritt Forum, No.1 (1996).
118. According to Blee (note 16), p.29, the female KKK members expanded the impact of the Klan since they consciously used their families and personal networks to recruit new members.
119. Weinberg and Eubank (note 4), p.256.
120. Fritt Forum, No.1 (1996).
121. Valkyria's Instruction Manual.
122. Blee (note 16), pp.37-8.
123. Valkyria's Instruction Manual.
124. Valkyria's Instruction Manual.
125. Cf. Jamieson (note 69), p.3. Similarly, the KKK women supported militant patriotism, but tended not to be involved in physical violence; see Blee (note 16), pp.34, 40.
126. Jamieson (note 69).
127. Valkyria's Instruction Manual. According to Norwegian law, youths above the age of 15 are allowed to be members of political organizations, whereas youths above the age of 18 are of age and are allowed all citizens' rights. In the Women's Klan of the 1920s, sixteen was the lower age limit; see Blee (note 16), p.30.
128. Interview, 9 March 1996.
129. These two groups, Embla and Jenter for Norge (Girls for Norway), have not yet presented themselves in the underground; but they are supposed to receive a broader presentation in the next issue of the main information magazine of the underground. Fritt Forum, No.5 (1996).
130. Interview, 9 March 1996.
131. Cf. Mushaben (note 27), p.26.
132. Ibid., p.20.
133. Cf. the picture of a skinhead woman kicking a black man portrayed as an ape in Bootboys, No.7 (1988). See also Lööw (note 28), p.560.
134. Mushaben (note 27), p.23, has observed rather similar female role-patterns among German neo-Nazis. The militant nationalist women are similar to those to whom Mushaben refers as the 'recruiters of the fighting front'; 'In contrast to Fascho-Brides who willingly confine themselves to the sidelines of the movement, members of the "fighting front" reject passive, eternally feminine images of women in favor of self-determined active roles'.
135. Cf. those women whom Mushaben categorizes as Fascho-Brides; ibid.
136. Interview, 9 March 1996.
137. Campbell (note 70), p.9.
138. Wheelwright (note 78), p.13.
139. Interview, 9 March 1996.
140. Tore Bjørgo, 'Entry, Bridge-Burning and Exit Options: What Happens to Young People who join Racist Groups - and Want to Leave?' in Kaplan and Bjørgo (note 36).
141. Det Nye (a magazine for young women), No.10 (1995).
142. Interview, 9 March 1996.
143. Interview, 9 March 1996.
144. This event was described independently both by a leading male activist from the Viking group (interview, 24 April 1996), and by a leading female activist from the Valkyria group (interview, 9 March 1996).
145. There is a trend for women in far-right groups to be a minority compared to men in regard to violent acts with neo-fascist or racist motives. According to data presented by Christopher Husbands (note 87), p. 103, females made up 4 per cent of the suspects of punishable offenses with neo-fascist features in Germany in the period 1977-86. Of the persons actually convicted of relevant punishable offenses with neo-fascist motives, only 5 per cent were female; while only 2 per cent of the persons involved in various acts of planned or actual violence with-such motives were female. Between 1/4 and 1/3 of the approximately 40,000 right-wing extremists in Germany are women. However, few women are present at party gathering, and almost none of them participate in street-fights.
146. 'Nationalist' is commonly defined by the activists as 'being proud of one's country, and being 100 per cent against immigration'.
147. Fritt Forum, No.1 (1996).
148. According to Kathleen Blee (note 16), p.3, women in fact make racist organizations more dangerous, because they spread the ideology through their family, their personal networks and local contacts. This makes women's influence often more extensive than the men's. My analysis suggests that this might also hold for the Valkyria women since, according to my observations, they have much more contact with friends outside the milieu than the men do.
149. Interview, 9 March 1996.
150. Martin Barker, The New Racism. Conservatives and the Ideology of the Tribe (Frederick, MD: University Publications of America 1982).
151. Both women interviewed in Det Nye, No.10 (Oct. 1995).
152. Det Nye, No.10 (Oct. 1995).
153. Interview, 9 March 1996. For a discussion of the way male activists deal with the Holocaust, see Fangen (note 50).
154. Kaplan and Bjørgo (note 36).
155. Interview, 9 March 1996. Rune Gerhardsen, Labor Party politician. Head of Oslo Town Council.
156. Valkyria's Instruction Manual.
157. Del Nye, No.10 (Oct. 1995).
158. Ibid.
159. Interview, 24 April 1996.
160. Fritt Forum, No.1 (1996).
161. Koonz (note 20), p.450.
162. Interview, 9 March 1996.
163. Ibid.
164. This argument was also commonly used by Nazi women in the 1930s: see Koonz (note 20), p.449.
165. Jack Kjuus is the leader of Hvit Valgallianse (White Election Alliance).
166. I have described the history of such views in Norway in the report 'Rasismens historie og forhistorie' (The History and Prehistory of Racism), SFDH (Sogn og Fjordane College)-report, No.1 (1993).
167. At times, the Women's Klan portrayed itself as a social welfare organization. Some chapters collected food and money for the needy (typically Klan families), and others ran free day-nurseries and homes for wayward girls; see Blee (note 16), p.40. Similarly, Nazi women collected money for poor national socialist families; see Koonz (note 20), p.463.
168. Koonz (note 19).
169. Blee (note 16), p.3.
170. Interview, 24 April 1996.
171. Durham (note 37), p.279.