Subcultures, pop music and politics: Skinheads and "Nazi rock" in England and Germany

Journal of Social History

Volumn 38, Issue 1, 2004, Pages

  Brown, Timothy S ^a,b  

^a POMONA COLLEGE   (United States)

^b Department of History ^*  (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 6344263599     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh.2004.0079     Document Type: Review

References (111)

1. More than one genre of music has been infiltrated by right-wing and racist beliefs. The 1990s have seen the emergence of Nazi techno and Nazi folk to name just two. See the essays in Devin Burghardt, ed., Soundtracks to the White Revolution. White Supremacist Assaults on Youth Subcultures (Chicago, 1999).
2. Indeed, the Oi! genre is home to a number of self-consciously anti-racist and even socialist-leaning bands that place themselves in open opposition to racist and Nazi bands. See George Marshall, Spirit of '69. A Skinhead Bible (Dunoon, Scotland, 1991), 143.
3. See Dick Hebdige, "The Meaning of Mod," in Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson eds., Resistance Through Rituals (London, 1993), 87-96.
4. Dick Hebdige, Subculture. The Meaning of Style (London and New York, 1979), 55; Stanley Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition (New York, 2002).
5. Dick Hebdige, Subculture. The Meaning of Style (London and New York, 1979), 55; Stanley Cohen, Folk Devils and Moral Panics: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition (New York, 2002).
6. See Hebdige, Subculture, chapters 3-4; Marshall, Spirit of '69, pp. 44-49. Roger Sabin has recently argued that the claims of the affinity between punks and skinheads and blacks in Britain have been overstated; Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By': Rethinking Punk and Racism," in Roger Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What? The Cultural Legacy of Punk (London and New York, 1999), 199-218, 202. Jack Moore makes a similar but less nuanced argument in Jack Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads (Bowling Green, Ohio, 1993), 57.
7. See Hebdige, Subculture, chapters 3-4; Marshall, Spirit of '69, pp. 44-49. Roger Sabin has recently argued that the claims of the affinity between punks and skinheads and blacks in Britain have been overstated; Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By': Rethinking Punk and Racism," in Roger Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What? The Cultural Legacy of Punk (London and New York, 1999), 199-218, 202. Jack Moore makes a similar but less nuanced argument in Jack Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads (Bowling Green, Ohio, 1993), 57.
8. See Hebdige, Subculture, chapters 3-4; Marshall, Spirit of '69, pp. 44-49. Roger Sabin has recently argued that the claims of the affinity between punks and skinheads and blacks in Britain have been overstated; Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By': Rethinking Punk and Racism," in Roger Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What? The Cultural Legacy of Punk (London and New York, 1999), 199-218, 202. Jack Moore makes a similar but less nuanced argument in Jack Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads (Bowling Green, Ohio, 1993), 57.
9. See Hebdige, Subculture, chapters 3-4; Marshall, Spirit of '69, pp. 44-49. Roger Sabin has recently argued that the claims of the affinity between punks and skinheads and blacks in Britain have been overstated; Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By': Rethinking Punk and Racism," in Roger Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What? The Cultural Legacy of Punk (London and New York, 1999), 199-218, 202. Jack Moore makes a similar but less nuanced argument in Jack Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads (Bowling Green, Ohio, 1993), 57.
10. Frank Cartledge has emphasized, with respect to punk rock, the highly contingent nature of "authenticity;" see Frank Cartledge, 'Distress to Impress?,' Local Punk Fashion and Commodity Exchange," in Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What?," 143-153, 149.
11. Phil Cohen, "Subcultural Conflict and Working Class Community," Working Papers in Subcultural Studies 2, University of Birmingham: Centre for Cultural Studies (1972).
12. Marshall, Spirit of '69, 136.
13. See the caricature in Ibid., 142.
14. Hebdige, Subculture, 31.
15. Murray Healy, Gay Skins: Class, Masculinity and Queer Appropriation (London, 1996), 197. For a different reading of the gay-skinhead connection see Ashley Dawson, "'Do Doc Martins Have a Special Smell?' Homocore, Skinhead Eroticism, and Queer Agency," in Kevin J.H. Dettmar and William Richey, Reading Rock and Roll, Authenticity, Appropriation, Aesthetics (New York, 1999), 125-143.
16. Murray Healy, Gay Skins: Class, Masculinity and Queer Appropriation (London, 1996), 197. For a different reading of the gay-skinhead connection see Ashley Dawson, "'Do Doc Martins Have a Special Smell?' Homocore, Skinhead Eroticism, and Queer Agency," in Kevin J.H. Dettmar and William Richey, Reading Rock and Roll, Authenticity, Appropriation, Aesthetics (New York, 1999), 125-143.
17. With emphasis on "relatively;" as Frank Cartledge points out with regard to punk, "style ... cannot be [reduced] to a single simple paradigm," but must be recognized, even in a given historical moment, as the product of "difference, change and evolution related to both individual and physical space;" Cartledge, "Distress to Impress?," 149.
18. Keith Negus, Popular Music in Theory. An Introduction (Hanover and London, 1996), 134.
19. Ibid., 135.
20. I b i d.
21. See Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By.'"
22. See Roger Sabin's excellent discussion of the prominence of racial humor in this period; Ibid., 200; see also Stephen Wagg, Because I Tell a Joke or Two (London, 1998), chapter 15.
23. See Roger Sabin's excellent discussion of the prominence of racial humor in this period; Ibid., 200; see also Stephen Wagg, Because I Tell a Joke or Two (London, 1998), chapter 15.
24. Stan Taylor, The National Front in English Politics (London and Basingstoke, 1982), 15-19; Paul Gilroy, 'There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack.' The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation (Chicago, 1987), 44-50.
25. Stan Taylor, The National Front in English Politics (London and Basingstoke, 1982), 15-19; Paul Gilroy, 'There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack.' The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation (Chicago, 1987), 44-50.
26. This was the so-called "Rivers of Blood" speech delivered in Birmingham on April 20, 1968.
27. Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi. Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 203. A similar scare was cooked up by the tabloid press in 1976 over the expulsion of Asians holding British passports from Malawi.
28. The National Front was founded in 1967 by Arthur Chesterton and John Tyndall, both former members of Britain's interwar fascist party, Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists. The NF achieved at one point a membership of 17,500, and reached its peak in the national elections of 1977, winning close to 250,000 votes. On the National Front's place in the English radical right see Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain (Oxford, 1987). On the issue of racism and racial violence in British society see P. Pataya, ed., Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1993); Robert Miles and Anna Phizacklea, White-Man's Country: Racism in British Politics (London, 1984); Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration: 'Race and 'Race' Relations in Post-war Britain (Oxford, 1992). The NF was particularly interested in gaining recruits from the working-class youth subcultures; see Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 200.
29. The National Front was founded in 1967 by Arthur Chesterton and John Tyndall, both former members of Britain's interwar fascist party, Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists. The NF achieved at one point a membership of 17,500, and reached its peak in the national elections of 1977, winning close to 250,000 votes. On the National Front's place in the English radical right see Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain (Oxford, 1987). On the issue of racism and racial violence in British society see P. Pataya, ed., Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1993); Robert Miles and Anna Phizacklea, White-Man's Country: Racism in British Politics (London, 1984); Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration: 'Race and 'Race' Relations in Post-war Britain (Oxford, 1992). The NF was particularly interested in gaining recruits from the working-class youth subcultures; see Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 200.
30. The National Front was founded in 1967 by Arthur Chesterton and John Tyndall, both former members of Britain's interwar fascist party, Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists. The NF achieved at one point a membership of 17,500, and reached its peak in the national elections of 1977, winning close to 250,000 votes. On the National Front's place in the English radical right see Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain (Oxford, 1987). On the issue of racism and racial violence in British society see P. Pataya, ed., Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1993); Robert Miles and Anna Phizacklea, White-Man's Country: Racism in British Politics (London, 1984); Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration: 'Race and 'Race' Relations in Post-war Britain (Oxford, 1992). The NF was particularly interested in gaining recruits from the working-class youth subcultures; see Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 200.
31. The National Front was founded in 1967 by Arthur Chesterton and John Tyndall, both former members of Britain's interwar fascist party, Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists. The NF achieved at one point a membership of 17,500, and reached its peak in the national elections of 1977, winning close to 250,000 votes. On the National Front's place in the English radical right see Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain (Oxford, 1987). On the issue of racism and racial violence in British society see P. Pataya, ed., Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1993); Robert Miles and Anna Phizacklea, White-Man's Country: Racism in British Politics (London, 1984); Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration: 'Race and 'Race' Relations in Post-war Britain (Oxford, 1992). The NF was particularly interested in gaining recruits from the working-class youth subcultures; see Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 200.
32. The National Front was founded in 1967 by Arthur Chesterton and John Tyndall, both former members of Britain's interwar fascist party, Oswald Moseley's British Union of Fascists. The NF achieved at one point a membership of 17,500, and reached its peak in the national elections of 1977, winning close to 250,000 votes. On the National Front's place in the English radical right see Richard Thurlow, Fascism in Britain (Oxford, 1987). On the issue of racism and racial violence in British society see P. Pataya, ed., Racial Violence in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (London, 1993); Robert Miles and Anna Phizacklea, White-Man's Country: Racism in British Politics (London, 1984); Zig Layton-Henry, The Politics of Immigration: 'Race and 'Race' Relations in Post-war Britain (Oxford, 1992). The NF was particularly interested in gaining recruits from the working-class youth subcultures; see Roger Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 200.
33. Marshall, Spirit of '69, 19.
34. Dick Hebdige, "This is England! And They Don't Live Here," in Nick Knight, Skinhead (London, New York, Sydney, 1982), 26-35, 31.
35. Marshall, Spirit of '69, 125. The British Movement, founded in 1968, was successor to the National Socialist Movement (1962-1968). It made little attempt to gain mainstream support, focusing instead on terrorism and street-combat. The British Movement profited from the collapse of the National Front after 1979; see Cronin, ed., The Failure of British Fascism (London, 1996).
36. Marshall, Spirit of '69, 125. The British Movement, founded in 1968, was successor to the National Socialist Movement (1962-1968). It made little attempt to gain mainstream support, focusing instead on terrorism and street-combat. The British Movement profited from the collapse of the National Front after 1979; see Cronin, ed., The Failure of British Fascism (London, 1996).
37. Steve Silver, "Echoes of the Past," Searchlight, July 1999.
38. Skinhead supporters protest that not only skinheads but punks and so-called "normals" (fans with no obvious subcultural affiliation) were at the gig, and that the bands involved were not right wing; see Marshall, Spirit of '69, 108. But the shock of the bully suddenly finding himself on the receiving end of the "boot" comes across clearly enough in skinhead complaints about the result of Southall.
39. Healy, Gay Skins, 124.
40. See the photo of a pre-skinhead Skrewdriver in punk regalia (with Swastikas) in Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 214.
41. The "rehabilitation" (and commercial success) of the Onkelz has progressed to the extent that they are now considered fit to headline an anti-racist ("Rock Against the Right") concert scheduled September 2004 in Halle-Münsterland. An account of the debate within the local Green Party administration regarding the band's suitability can be found at: Http:://gruene-muenster.de/print.php?sid=593.
42. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
43. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
44. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
45. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
46. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
47. In Germany, the politicization of subcultures is more entrenched than in Britain, perhaps because of the legacy of street combat between left and right stretching back to the Weimar Republic, and recapitulated in the battles between neo-Nazi skinheads and anarchist Autonomen ("autonomists") described in Ingo Hasselbach's memoir of his days as a street-fighting rightist militant; Führer-Ex. Memoirs of a Former Neo-Nazi (New York, 1996). Roger Sabin argues persuasively that English punk's reputation for being left-wing is only partially deserved, and that the use of fascist iconography by performers like Siouxsie Sioux and Sid Vicious is not all innocent "provocation," as has often been claimed, and that even punk's much-vaunted romance with reggae has been overstated; Sabin, "'I Won't Let That Dago By,'" 208-9. Moore makes a similar point; Moore, Skin-heads Shaved for Battle, 33. On the politics of punk see James J. Ward, "'This is Germany! It's 1933!' Appropriations and Constructions of 'Fascism' in New York Punk/Hardcore in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture, 30/3 (Winter 1996), 155-184, 155-162; Simon Frith, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock 'n' Roll (New York, 1981), 158-63 ("The Case of Punk"). On the connections between punk and organized antiracist politics in Britain see Simon Frith and John Street, "Rock Against Racism and Red Wedge: From Music to Politics, from Politics to Music," in Reebe Garafalo, ed., Rockin' the Boat: Mass Music and Mass Movements (Boston, 1992), 67-80.
48. Klaus Farin and Eberhard Seidel-Pielen eds., Skinheads (München, 1993), 83.
49. Marshall, Spirit of '69, 136.
50. "Stolz," Der nette Mann, Rock-o-Rama, 1984.
51. "Deutschland," Ibid.
52. Farin and Seidel-Pielen eds., Skinheads, 88-9. It is estimated that over a million bootleg copies of the album have been sold since it was banned; Hans-Gerd Jaschke, Birgit Ratsch, and Yury Winterberg, Nach Hitler. Radikale Recht rüsten auf (München, 2001), 222.
53. Farin and Seidel-Pielen eds., Skinheads, 88-9. It is estimated that over a million bootleg copies of the album have been sold since it was banned; Hans-Gerd Jaschke, Birgit Ratsch, and Yury Winterberg, Nach Hitler. Radikale Recht rüsten auf (München, 2001), 222.
54. Ibid., 94.
55. Ibid., 90.
56. It is worth noting the two bands' adoption of a classic metal device in the deliberate misspelling of the words in their names (Skrewdriver replacing the "c" in Screwdriver with a "k," the Böhse Onkelz replacing the "s" in Onkels with a "z).
57. Klaus Farin "In Valhalla sehen uns wieder," Die Skins! (Berlin, 2002) 224.
58. The German government estimates that 400,000-500,000 immigrants entered Germany in 1992; Rand C. Lewis, The Neo-Nazis and German Reunification (Westport, CT, London, 1996), 49.
59. Between roughly 1961 and 1973, large numbers of Turkish workers were recruited to make up for Germany's post-war labor shortage. As of 2002 there were approximately 2.1 million Turks in Germany (3.4% of the population); Britannica Book of the Year (Chicago, 2003). On Turkish immigration to Germany see Jenny B. White, "Turks in Germany: Overview of the Literature," Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, July 1995.
60. Between roughly 1961 and 1973, large numbers of Turkish workers were recruited to make up for Germany's post-war labor shortage. As of 2002 there were approximately 2.1 million Turks in Germany (3.4% of the population); Britannica Book of the Year (Chicago, 2003). On Turkish immigration to Germany see Jenny B. White, "Turks in Germany: Overview of the Literature," Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, July 1995.
61. Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 59.
62. For some of the sources of tension see Lewis, The Neo-Nazis and German Reunification, 49-52.
63. Literally, "enemy image."
64. Max Annas, "Diktatur und Alltag-Bilder und Heimat," in Max Annas and Ralph Christoph eds., Neu Soundtracks für den Volksempfänger. Nazirock, Jugendkultur und rechter Mainstream (Berlin-Amsterdam, 1993), 72.
65. Farin, "In Valhalla sehen uns wieder," 229.
66. Skinheads frequently pumped their grandfathers for first-hand of information on the Third Reich and the war years; Paul Hockenos, Free to Hate: The Rise of the Right in Post-Communist Eastern Europe (New York, 1993), 85-87.
67. Max Annas, "Diktatur und Alltag ...", 75
68. Ibid., 74.
69. Peter H. Merkl, "Why are they So Strong Now? Comparative Reflections on the Revival of the Radical Right in Europe," in Peter H. Merkl and Leonard Weinberg eds., The Revival of Right-Wing Extremism in the Nineties (London, Portland, 1997), 17-46.
70. Merkl, "Why are they So Strong Now?," 39.
71. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
72. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
73. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
74. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
75. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
76. A firebomb attack on the house of a Turkish family in Solingen in May 1993 killed two women and three girls, injuring seven other people. Three Turkish girls died in a similar attack in Mölln in November of the previous year. These attacks occurred in the wake of a number of non-fatal assaults on homes for refugees in 1991-92 (Hoyerswerda, September 17-22, 1991; Schwedt, Eberswalde, Eisenhüttenstadt, Elsterwerda in October 1991; Rostock-Lichtenhagen August 23-27, 1993). In some of these attacks the assailants were cheered on by the local population. For a chilling look into the mindset of one of the perpetrators see Max Thomas Mehr and Regine Sylvester, "The Stone-Thrower from Eisenhüttenstadt," Granta, 42 (Winter 1992). On neo-Nazism and anti-foreigner violence in post-war Germany see Christophe Butterwege, Rechtsextremismus, Rassismus und Gewalt: Erklärungsmodelle in der Diskussion (Darmstadt, 1996); Dieter Schüpp, Josef Kopperschmidt, Hans Pöttgens, Hrsg., Rechsextremismus und Gewalt: Phänomene, Analysen, Antworten (Mönchengladbach, 1994); Ulrich Wank, ed., The Resurgence of Right-Wing Radicalism in Germany (Atlantic Highlands, 1996); Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler; Diethelm Prowe, "Fascism, neo-Fascism, new radical right?," in Roger Griffin ed., International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus (London, Sydney, Auckland, 1998).
77. The immigrant Alberto Adriano was murdered in a park in the Eastern German city of Dessau in June 2000.
78. "German rock band tried on neo-Nazi charges," Associated Press, June 24, 2003.
79. It also fostered the growth of conspiratorial structures designed to escape official scrutiny; Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 224.
80. Farin, "In Valhalla sehen uns wieder," 223.
81. Klaus Farin, "Urban Rebels. Die Geschichte der Skinheadbewegung, " in Klaus Farin, ed., Die Skins. Mythos und Realität (Berlin, 1998), 52.
82. The German Democratic Republic's official self-conception.
83. For a fascinating look into the neo-Nazi skinhead subculture in the GDR and after reunification see Hasselbach, Führer-Ex.
84. Farin, "Urban Rebels," 56. The former East Germany is home to just 21% of the German population, but over 50% of the number of skinheads. Since the mid-1990s the majority of skinhead-rock concerts have taken place in the East; Bundesminister des Innern, Verfassungsschutzbericht 1998.
85. Originally introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss, the concept of homology was first applied with respect to youth subcultures by Paul Willis; Paul E. Willis, Profane Culture (London, 1978). See discussion of the concept's use in Hebdige, Subculture, 133-117.
86. Originally introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss, the concept of homology was first applied with respect to youth subcultures by Paul Willis; Paul E. Willis, Profane Culture (London, 1978). See discussion of the concept's use in Hebdige, Subculture, 133-117.
87. The NPD was founded in 1964, and although it has remained on the political margins for most of its existence, it has made something of a comeback since the mid-nineties. See Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 150-159; Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Rechtsextremismus: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme nach der Wiedervereinigung (Bonn, 1993); Norbert Finzsch and Dietmar Schirmer, eds., Identity and Intolerance: Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge and NY, 1998); John David Nagle, The National Democratic Party. Right Radicalism in the Federal Republic (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1970). One notorious skinhead gang from the Dresden area, Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz (SSS) is openly affiliated with the NPD, providing protection for party meetings. Die Tageszeitung, Nr. 6820 August 7, 2002. On the SSS also see Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 252-4.
88. The NPD was founded in 1964, and although it has remained on the political margins for most of its existence, it has made something of a comeback since the mid-nineties. See Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 150-159; Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Rechtsextremismus: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme nach der Wiedervereinigung (Bonn, 1993); Norbert Finzsch and Dietmar Schirmer, eds., Identity and Intolerance: Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge and NY, 1998); John David Nagle, The National Democratic Party. Right Radicalism in the Federal Republic (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1970). One notorious skinhead gang from the Dresden area, Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz (SSS) is openly affiliated with the NPD, providing protection for party meetings. Die Tageszeitung, Nr. 6820 August 7, 2002. On the SSS also see Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 252-4.
89. The NPD was founded in 1964, and although it has remained on the political margins for most of its existence, it has made something of a comeback since the mid-nineties. See Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 150-159; Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Rechtsextremismus: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme nach der Wiedervereinigung (Bonn, 1993); Norbert Finzsch and Dietmar Schirmer, eds., Identity and Intolerance: Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge and NY, 1998); John David Nagle, The National Democratic Party. Right Radicalism in the Federal Republic (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1970). One notorious skinhead gang from the Dresden area, Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz (SSS) is openly affiliated with the NPD, providing protection for party meetings. Die Tageszeitung, Nr. 6820 August 7, 2002. On the SSS also see Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 252-4.
90. The NPD was founded in 1964, and although it has remained on the political margins for most of its existence, it has made something of a comeback since the mid-nineties. See Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 150-159; Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Rechtsextremismus: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme nach der Wiedervereinigung (Bonn, 1993); Norbert Finzsch and Dietmar Schirmer, eds., Identity and Intolerance: Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge and NY, 1998); John David Nagle, The National Democratic Party. Right Radicalism in the Federal Republic (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1970). One notorious skinhead gang from the Dresden area, Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz (SSS) is openly affiliated with the NPD, providing protection for party meetings. Die Tageszeitung, Nr. 6820 August 7, 2002. On the SSS also see Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 252-4.
91. The NPD was founded in 1964, and although it has remained on the political margins for most of its existence, it has made something of a comeback since the mid-nineties. See Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 150-159; Armin Pfahl-Traughber, Rechtsextremismus: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme nach der Wiedervereinigung (Bonn, 1993); Norbert Finzsch and Dietmar Schirmer, eds., Identity and Intolerance: Nationalism, Racism, and Xenophobia in Germany and the United States (Cambridge and NY, 1998); John David Nagle, The National Democratic Party. Right Radicalism in the Federal Republic (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1970). One notorious skinhead gang from the Dresden area, Skinheads Sächsische Schweiz (SSS) is openly affiliated with the NPD, providing protection for party meetings. Die Tageszeitung, Nr. 6820 August 7, 2002. On the SSS also see Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 252-4.
92. Bundesminister des Innern, Verfassungsschutzbericht, 2002.
93. Founded in the USA in 1986, the Hammerskins have formed an international network similar to Blood & Honor. The group established a presence in Germany in 1991. The German band Landser is affiliated with Hammerskins and is thought to have recorded several of its CDs (illegal in Germany) in the United States. On the growing connections between German and American neo-Nazi subcultures see Heléne Lööw, "White-Power Rock 'n' Roll: A Growing Industry," in Jeffrey Kaplan and Tore Bjorgo, eds., Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture (Boston, 1998).
94. On the importance of these concerts for the neo-Nazi scene see Lewis, The Neo-Nazis and German Reunification, 41.
95. See Burghardt, ed., Soundtracks to the White Revolution; Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 210-231.
96. See Burghardt, ed., Soundtracks to the White Revolution; Jaschke et al, Nach Hitler, 210-231.
97. Bundesminister des Innern, Verfassungsschutzbericht, 2002.
98. Lewis, The Neo-Nazis and German Reunification, 44.
99. See "Rock-Musik unterm Hakenkreuz," in Manfred Leier, Hrsg., Un-Heil über Deutschland: Fremdenhaß und Neofaschismus nach der Wiedervereinigung (Hamburg, 1993), 104-119.
100. Theodor Adorno, "On Jazz" (1936), in Theodor Adorno, Essays on Music, Selected, with Introduction, Commentary, and Notes by Richard Leppert (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 2002), 470-495.
101. The spectacular youth subcultures of post-war Britain were a main concern of the theorists associated with the Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) at the University of Birmingham. The classic CCCS study is still in print: Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson eds., Resistance Through Rituals (London, 1995).
102. See Theodor Adorno, "What National Socialism has Done to the Arts" (1945), in Adorno, Essays on Music, 373-390.
103. For an excellent overview of the various schools of subcultural theory see Sarah Thornton's introduction to Ken Gelder and Sarah Thornton eds., The Subcultures Reader (London and New York, 1997), 1-7.
104. Roger Sabin, "Introduction," in Sabin ed., Punk Rock: So What?," 1-13, 5.
105. Cartledge, "Distress to Impress?," 153.
106. See Negus, Popular Music in Theory, 24-32; David Laing, One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock (Milton Keynes, England; Philadelphia, 1985).
107. See Negus, Popular Music in Theory, 24-32; David Laing, One Chord Wonders: Power and Meaning in Punk Rock (Milton Keynes, England; Philadelphia, 1985).
108. See discussion in Negus, Popular Music in Theory, espec. chapters 2 and 3.
109. Skinheads and Nazi Rock are just one example of the striking relationship between youth culture and radical politics in the post-1945 period. In Germany, the student radicals and communards of the 1960s, and the left-wing terrorists and "Hash Rebels" of the 1970s, come readily to mind. The latter were radicalized hippies who coalesced in the rioting that attended the 1965 Rolling Stones concert in Berlin. Members of the group later went on to form the terrorist "Bewegung 2. Juni." For accounts by key members see Ralf Reinders and Ronald Fritsch, Die Bewegung 2. Juni. Gespräche über Haschrebellen, Lorenzentführung, Knast (Berlin, 1995); Michael Baumann, Terror or Love? The Personal Account of a West German Urban Guerilla (New York, 1979). These groups existed at the nexus of (counter/sub) culture and radical activism, blurring the boundaries between "cool" style, taste, and politics. Moreover, they laid the groundwork for a political style that continues to be of importance today, not least in the so-called "anti-globalization" movement, with its self-conscious internationalism, dependence on new forms of mass communication, and inseparable connection to grassroots culture. More recently, the intersection of hip hop culture and anti-racist politics-represented in Germany above all by the "Kanak Attak" initiative-is becoming increasingly salient. On Kanak Attak see Timothy S. Brown, "'Keeping it Real' in a Different 'Hood": (African)-Americanization and Hip Hop in Germany," in Dipannita Basu and Sidney Lemelle ed., The Vinyl's Never Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Culture, Pluto, 2005, forthcoming.
110. Skinheads and Nazi Rock are just one example of the striking relationship between youth culture and radical politics in the post-1945 period. In Germany, the student radicals and communards of the 1960s, and the left-wing terrorists and "Hash Rebels" of the 1970s, come readily to mind. The latter were radicalized hippies who coalesced in the rioting that attended the 1965 Rolling Stones concert in Berlin. Members of the group later went on to form the terrorist "Bewegung 2. Juni." For accounts by key members see Ralf Reinders and Ronald Fritsch, Die Bewegung 2. Juni. Gespräche über Haschrebellen, Lorenzentführung, Knast (Berlin, 1995); Michael Baumann, Terror or Love? The Personal Account of a West German Urban Guerilla (New York, 1979). These groups existed at the nexus of (counter/sub) culture and radical activism, blurring the boundaries between "cool" style, taste, and politics. Moreover, they laid the groundwork for a political style that continues to be of importance today, not least in the so-called "anti-globalization" movement, with its self-conscious internationalism, dependence on new forms of mass communication, and inseparable connection to grassroots culture. More recently, the intersection of hip hop culture and anti-racist politics-represented in Germany above all by the "Kanak Attak" initiative-is becoming increasingly salient. On Kanak Attak see Timothy S. Brown, "'Keeping it Real' in a Different 'Hood": (African)-Americanization and Hip Hop in Germany," in Dipannita Basu and Sidney Lemelle ed., The Vinyl's Never Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Culture, Pluto, 2005, forthcoming.
111. Skinheads and Nazi Rock are just one example of the striking relationship between youth culture and radical politics in the post-1945 period. In Germany, the student radicals and communards of the 1960s, and the left-wing terrorists and "Hash Rebels" of the 1970s, come readily to mind. The latter were radicalized hippies who coalesced in the rioting that attended the 1965 Rolling Stones concert in Berlin. Members of the group later went on to form the terrorist "Bewegung 2. Juni." For accounts by key members see Ralf Reinders and Ronald Fritsch, Die Bewegung 2. Juni. Gespräche über Haschrebellen, Lorenzentführung, Knast (Berlin, 1995); Michael Baumann, Terror or Love? The Personal Account of a West German Urban Guerilla (New York, 1979). These groups existed at the nexus of (counter/sub) culture and radical activism, blurring the boundaries between "cool" style, taste, and politics. Moreover, they laid the groundwork for a political style that continues to be of importance today, not least in the so-called "anti-globalization" movement, with its self-conscious internationalism, dependence on new forms of mass communication, and inseparable connection to grassroots culture. More recently, the intersection of hip hop culture and anti-racist politics-represented in Germany above all by the "Kanak Attak" initiative-is becoming increasingly salient. On Kanak Attak see Timothy S. Brown, "'Keeping it Real' in a Different 'Hood": (African)-Americanization and Hip Hop in Germany," in Dipannita Basu and Sidney Lemelle ed., The Vinyl's Never Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Culture, Pluto, 2005, forthcoming.