The National Front was one of the most controversial political parties in Britain. This exploration, first published in 1981, of the NF ideology and its meaning for members is based on a participation observation study which involved the development of relations with its headquarters, and with branch staff and members in several English cities. The fieldwork was carried out at marches, branch meetings and rallies, and candidates, activists, ordinary members and opponents of the NF were interviewed. Nigel Fielding examines in detail the ethnography of the National Front, describing its history, electoral performance and some demographic characteristics of its membership. He investigates the party ideology, concentrating on the key aspects of race, nationalism and conspiracy theory. The party’s involvement in overt and covert political action is discussed, and tolerance of ambiguity in adherence to ideology, are explored. In a final chapter the author discusses the case for regarding active NF membership as evidence of a commitment to an alternative conception of social reality founded on fundamental disagreement with the political and social order of the status quo. This book examines the problem of the relationship between the beliefs and actions of the political deviant in the context of a group which is involved in political activism.

The extreme right-wing National Front is now France's fourth largest political party. In 1986 under a proportional electoral system it won thirty-five seats in the French National Assembly; in the 1988 Presidential election the National Front's leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, obtained over fourteen percent of the popular vote. Over the past decade, it has won representation at virtually all levels of French politics. Le Pen's xenophobic anti-immigrant message has clearly attracted significant support in France. He has had a major influence upon the terms on which issues like immigration, nationality and racism are debated in France. Drawing on personal interviews with Le Pen and other National Front leaders, Jonathan Marcus traces the rise of Le Pen's party, and its impact on the French political scene, and in the process raises important questions about the future of French, European, and world politics. How far have the mainstream parties of both Left and Right faced up to Le Pen's challenge? Is the National Front now a permanent feature of French politics? To what degree is Le Pen a threat to French democracy? And finally, how successful will Le Pen be in pushing his agenda in the European Parliament?

A study of the French National Front and its implications for the rest of the western world.

This book examines the domestic evolution and international connections of post-war fascists in the UK. It argues that post-war British fascism became transnational as the radicals increasingly exchanged ideas, money and culture with like-minded foreigners. Using interviews with key figures in several countries, this book traces the history of the National Front (NF) and British National Party (BNP), focusing on the political parties’ youth, music and international outreach. It explores how British fascism grew into an international movement, how fascist youth developed skinhead music as a conduit for their ideas, and how some of those key figures made international connections with people in Iraq, Libya, Syria and the United States. Moreover, it also draws from rare internal party documents, law enforcement records and membership lists to track foreign funding and the parties’ domestic electoral growth. For the first time, this book gained access to both the leadership and rank-and-file of the BNP and NF to explore its culture and international connections. In doing so, it shows the successes, failures and changes that have made British fascism a force in the international extremist subculture.

This book examines the recent development of the far right in Britain against the backdrop of changing public attitudes toward race and immigration in Britain. Focusing in particular on the British National Party (BNP) which has been the most electorally successful far right party in British history, the book examines the worrying rise in support for extremist and racist ideas.

This book traces the varied development of the far right in Britain from the formation of the National Front in 1967 to the present day. Experts draw on a range of disciplinary and methodological perspectives to provide a rich and detailed account of the evolution of the various strands of the contemporary far right over the course of the last fifty years. The book examines a broad range of subjects, including Holocaust denial, neo-Nazi groupuscularity, transnational activities, ideology, cultural engagement, homosexuality, gender and activist mobilisation. It also includes a detailed literature review. This book is essential reading for students of fascism, racism and contemporary British cultural and political history.