Journal for Deradicalization (Dec 2014)
#HITLERWASRIGHT: NATIONAL ACTION AND NATIONAL SOCIALISM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Abstract
This article examines the new neo-Nazi organisation National Action. It begins with a brief overview of the group, from its formation in 2013 to its latest activism at the end of 2014. It then develops three analytical concepts to explore the nature of the group in greater depth. It firstly presents National Action as a neo-Nazi groupuscule operating within a wider milieu of extreme right organisations in the UK, some of this it has developed working relationships with, others it rejects as inauthentic. Secondly, it analyses the transnational dynamics of the group, revealing its engagement with groups outside of Britain. Finally, it examines how the group historicises it activity, linking the contemporary situation with the history of interwar fascism, especially Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. It concludes that, at the present moment, National Action poses limited risks to the public, however this could change over time given its extremist ideology and its links to international organisations.
