Autonome Nationalisten (English: Autonomous Nationalists, abbreviated AN) are German, British, Dutch, Finnish, and to a lesser degree Flemish,Autonomous Nationalist United Kingdom 全国各地求人情報ブログ (Belgian Dutch) far-right nationalists, who have appropriated some of the far-left and antifa's organizational concepts (autonomous activism), demonstration tactics (black bloc), symbolism, and elements of clothing, including Che Guevara T-shirts and keffiyehs. Similar groups have also appeared in some central and eastern European countries, beginning with Poland (starting in 2009), the Czech Republic,Mareš, Miroslav. National and Right-wing Radicalism in the New Democracies: Czech Republic. Paper for the workshop of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on “Right-wing extremism and its impact on young democracies in the CEE countries”, September, 2012. Ukraine,See: Автономні націоналісти України (Autonomous Nationalists of Ukraine) RomaniaRomania: Extremists offer Roma women payoffs for sterilization , Budapest Telegraph, May 17, 2014. and Greece and others.
History
The phenomenon of the Autonome Nationalisten can be traced to "Freie Nationaliste" (Free Nationalists), "Freie Kräfte" (Free Forces) and "Freie Kameradschaften" (Free Comradeships) movements, which developed in the shadow of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD) (National Democratic Party of Germany) since the late-1980s. The police crackdown on the far-right after re-unification and the wave of banning in the early 1990s ("Deutsche Alternative", "Nationalistische Front", "Freiheitliche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei", among others) forced most of the local extreme far-right militant groups to split into "autonomous nationalist cells" of 5-20 members without a formal membership. Instead of conducting regular meetings, they started to use phones and later Internet for communication and organizing.Jan Schedler. ‚Modernisierte Antimoderne‘: Entwicklung des organisierten Neonazismus 1990-2010. In: J. Schedler, A. Häusler (Hrsg.). Autonome Nationalisten Neonazismus in Bewegung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2011, p. 17-35. Local cells formed loose umbrella networks in the regions to coordinate actions.Robert Grimm (Manchester Metropolitan University). The geographic distribution of the extreme right in Germany, September 25, 2012. In 2008, Germany's Autonomous Nationalists were estimated to number approximately 400 people, 1% of the country's neo-Nazis. The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which provides domestic intelligence for the government, estimated the number of active participants of the far right movement in 2008 around 40,000.Rachel Nolan. Neo-Nazi Fashion: Thor Steinar and the Changing Look of the German Far Right, Spiegel Online International, November 20, 2008. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), in 2001 there were 75 extreme-right organizations in Germany with 50,000 members.Extremism Across Europe, Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed on 17 May 2014.
The emergence of the Autonome Nationalisten was controversial within the German far right milieu, both because some older activists of the German extreme right objected to their "leftist" image and because the NPD feared they would complicate its efforts to take part in mainstream politics. Also controversial was that Autonome Nationalisten had occasionally expressed sympathy for Islamic extremism, as well as Hezbollah and Hamas for their opposition to Zionism and American imperialism.Autonome neo-nazi’s op de linkse toer?, Gebladerte Archief (Dutch) The same controversies arose among the far right in Poland.
The Autonomous Nationalists in Europe made themselves visible starting from 2003–2004 and are now considered more violent than other members of the European far right. However, as of 2010, according to Miroslav Mareš, their impact in these countries has been limited so far.
The Autonomous Nationalist current has been represented in Finland by a group called Musta Sydän (Black Heart) led by Ali Kaurila. The group was allegedly behind a stabbing attack on left-wing activists. Musta Sydän has also organized neo-Nazi Hardcore concerts attended by bands from Germany and Italy on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht in Turku.
Message
Researchers view the syncretic political movement of the Autonomous Nationalists in Europe as a "strategic concept, organization and subculture – all three terms are possible for the designation of this phenomenon." They emphasize that,
The Autonomous Nationalists were ideologically inspired by Strasserism. The message of AN shifted to anti-globalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-imperialist ideas. It promotes complete organizational decentralization and autonomy inside the movement.Sommer, Bernd. Anti-capitalism in the name of ethno-nationalism: ideological shifts on the German extreme right, Patterns of Prejudice, V. 42, No. 3 (2008): 305-316.
The adoption of codes and symbols of the far left "Autonome Antifa" by the "Autonome Nationalisten" coincided with the persistence of vibrant alternative subcultures of the radical left and rejection of traditional skinhead cultural-political templates of behavior of the extreme right.Von Rainer Brahms. Mehr als eine Randerscheinung: Moderner Style, alte Inhalte , Lotta, No. 31, Summer 2008. The AN thus see themselves as 'autonomous' from established neo-Nazi programs and structures, developing their own ideological discourse, street message, action repertoire, music scenes and fashion codes.Schedler, Jan. The Devil in Disguise: Action Repertoire, Visual Performance and Collective Identity of the Autonomous Nationalists, Nations and Nationalism, V. 20, No. 2: 239-258, (2014). These are often meant to display anti-capitalist and anti-systemic rebellion and opposition to globalization and 'American cultural imperialism'.Schlembach, Raphael. The ‘Autonomous Nationalists’: new developments and contradictions in the German neo-Nazi movement, Interface: A journal for and about social movements, Volume 5 (2): 295 - 318, (November 2013). The AN also raised some social and economic issues, including poverty. As of 2011, they were firmly entrenched in the neo-Nazi movement.Schedler, Jan und Alexander Häusler (Hrsg.). Autonome Nationalisten Neonazismus in Bewegung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2011.
Gallery
See also
Bases Autónomas Black Front Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present) Far-right social centre Far-right subcultures Groupe Union Défense National-anarchism National Bolshevism National Democratic Party of Germany National Socialists for Israel Nipster Political soldier Popular Resistance Association Querfront Third Position Anti-Germans
References
Further reading Rechtsextremismus in Berlin, Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport. Decker, Oliver, Marliese Weißmann, Johannes Kiess, und Elmar Brähler. Die Mitte in der Krise. Rechtsextreme Einstellungen in Deutschland. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2010. Braun, Stephan, Alexander Geisler, und Martin Gerster. Strategien der extremen Rechten: Hintergründe - Analysen - Antworten. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2009. Hafeneger, Benno, und Sven Schönfelder. Politische Strategien gegen die extreme Rechte in Parlamenten: Folgen für kommunale Politik und lokale Demokratie : Eine qualitative Studie. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2007. Peters, Jürgen. "Autonome Nationalisten" die Modernisierung neofaschistischer Jugendkultur. Münster: Unrast, 2009. Roth, Roland. Demokratie braucht Qualität!: Beispiele guter Praxis und Handlungsempfehlungen für erfolgreiches Engagement gegen Rechtsextremismus. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2010. Schedler, Jan. Autonome Nationalisten. In: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Nr. 44/2010, S. 20–26, (2010). Schedler, Jan und Alexander Häusler (Hrsg.). Autonome Nationalisten Neonazismus in Bewegung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2011. Schedler, Jan. The Devil in Disguise: Action Repertoire, Visual Performance and Collective Identity of the Autonomous Nationalists, Nations and Nationalism, V. 20, No. 2: 239-258, (2014). Schlembach, Raphael. The ‘Autonomous Nationalists’: New developments and contradictions in the German neo-Nazi movement, Interface: A journal for and about social movements, Volume 5 (2): 295 - 318, (November 2013).
External links Autonom.pl Autonomous Nationalists in Poland Athens Autonomous Autonomous Nationalists in Greece Autonome Nationalisten Autonomous Nationalists: The AN movement in Germany