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With the re-emergence of Fascist and far-right parties throughout Europe and America, especially during the 1980's, we have been alerted to the presence of Racist and Fascist beliefs in our own country. In September 1993, Derek Beackon of the Nazi British National Party was elected to a council seat in East London. Despite being defeated at th e next election, he increased his vote by a third. It would be a mistake to think of Neo-Fascists as a bunch of skinhead thugs picking on ethnic groups that they see as lower than then on the social ladder. The traditional stereotype of Nazi 'thugs' does hold true for the majority, but their actions are often organised and directed by small cliques of, intelligent and systematic individuals. BNP leader Nick Griffin proffesses to be a Cambridge graduate. The Neo-Nazi revival is not just a mish-mash of 'fascist filth' and 'racist scum' (ANL newsletter, 1996), but a highly organised and well orchestrated attempt to sway majority opinion.
How do Neo-Fascist organisations attempt to win over the public in a Britain that is greatly opposed to them? Firstly, and most importantly, by not appearing to be Nazi in origin. In 1967, in a letter to William Pierce of the American Nazi Party, John Tyndall, then leader of the National Front (NF) said that: "The NF could not be openly Nazi because it would be stuck in the mire of the Second World War and the death camps". He went on to say how he had not abandoned his faith in Hitler or the Swastika, but the British public were not prepared to accept open Nazism yet; so the NF must "hide behind the Union Jack and phoney patriotic jargon until the time was ripe to go public with a mass Nazi movement" (John Tyndall quoted in Gable, 1991). Obviously, Tyndall was aware of the Zietgeist (The overall direction of social norms) in Britain at the time and realised that declaring themselves to be openly Nazi, would do more harm to their cause than good. Around that time, members of the NF stopped using the obviously Nazi sun-wheel symbol, and adopted the Union Jack as their most prominent badge. Various Nazi organisations throughout Europe have begun in this manner, using patriotism to get a foot in the door whilst maintaining good relations with other secretly, or openly, Nazi groups at home or abroad.
We can see evident in the behaviour of neo-fascist outfits at least three of the four behavioural styles proposed by Moscovici (1976). The first two are Consistancy and Rigidity. A minority that remains consistant in it's argument is more likely to influence a majority, than one that is inconsistant. The Neo-Fascists remain undaunted in t heir convictions that events such as the holocaust did not happen, their racist views and especially their anti-Semitism have lead Nazi Revisionists such as David Irving (for whom the BNP supply 'bodyguards') to publish articles and books in an attempt to rewrite a history that is against them. In BNP literature a study by none other than Hans Eysenck that appears to support the belief that whites are more intelligent than blacks, is still referred to as Gospel Truth without reference to the many criticisms of Eysenck's methodology, reference to counter-arguments or alternative interpretations of the data. Labov's (1970) study into 'Black English' is a good example of how scientists can interpret data incorrectly. Labov (1970) and Stewart (1970) both pointed out that many Afro-Americans speak a grammatically different form of English. Since IQ tests are administered in Standard English, the lower scores of Afro-Americans (which could be perceived as due to lower intelligence) are probably due to their different dialect. There are far more general arguments, especially in recent years, rejecting the validity of IQ tests and other psychometric testing altogether. Some psychologists, such as Gardener (1983), with his theory of multiple intelligence suggests that poor performance on IQ tests could merely signify the absence or presence of specific types of intelligence. Also, interpretations of intelligence test results are now considered relative to specific cultural context. Native Americans and Indians place greater importance on certainty, and would rather answer 'I don't know' or 'I'm not sure' to a question if they are not absolutely certain of the answer. In Western culture, we are more likely to 'have a guess' (Sinha 1983, Triandis 1989).
However, your average Neo-Fascist won't give two hoots about scientific argument unless the conclusion supports his existing belief. The ideology comes first and the Neo-Fascist looks for anything to back it up, no matter how trivial, un reliable or discredited. In the BNP's email newsletter, rapes and assaults by Asian or Black criminals are regularly reported, while crimes by Whites are ignored. Hardly an objective stance for a party standing on a "zero tolerance" platform towards crime and criminals. The BNP also appeals to common bloodlust by still calling for the death penalty. Although many would think that Fascism died in 1945, the ideology lives still and those who adhere to it show no sign of relinquishing their grip. Clinging to a universally reviled ideology with negligible academic support seems wonderfully demonstrative of both behavioural consistancy and ideological rigidity.
The third behavioural style is the presence of a seemingly flexible argumentative technique. Attempts are made by Neo-Fascists to rationalise their beliefs and portray them as truth. They take real-life problems that genuinely concern people, like unemployment and housing shortages, and supply answers that are both in line with their xenophobic and homophobic opinions and which seem sensible to somebody who doesn't know better. It is easy to be fooled. For example: In an area with high unemployment, a shortage of affordable housing and a minority of immigrant workers, the Fascist would have you believe that "the immigrants are stealing our jobs and houses". I am of course, talking about Tower Hamlets on the Isle of Dogs in East London. Local residents were lead into voting for the Derek Beackon of the BNP, who put forward such an argument, purely because they were not supplied with a counter argument. In fact, at that very moment, 980 luxury properties in the nearby ill-fated Canary Wharf lay empty as they were privately owned and over-priced (Personal communication from ANL volunteer, 1996). National unemployment at the time was approaching 10% yet only 2% of the population were immigrants or refugees. Exactly how are 2% of the population (many of whom were also unemployed) supposed to steal the jobs of 10% of the British populace? Even an elementary argument like this, based on statistics and simple mathematics, holds no sway over the BNP. I have not come across any attempt to address this criticism in BNP literature.
The NF or the BNP (they change their name often, in order to throw of stigmatisation by negative associations) display a public face of flexible, rational patriotism. Proclaiming that they only want what is best for their country, they deny that they have a Nazi agenda. Should they seem dogmatic or rigid they risk lessening their ability to influence the majority or actually dividing the majority, gaining a few conversions but forcing the majority view further to the opposite extreme. This phenomenon is called Bi-polarization and can result when a minority argues in a rigid as opposed to flexible manner. Although in an Orthodox minority (whose views are in line with prevailing norms, or zietgiest) such as environmentalism, a rigid argumentative style is the more helpful, in a Heterodox minority (whose opinions are against prevailing norms) such as Neo-Fascist groups, a flexible argumentative style is more effective (Mugny and Papastamou 1975-6) and this is what we see displayed in Nazi style outfits.
I now turn to behavioural styles less often displayed, practised or perceived in Neo-Fascist organisation s. The first of these is Investment (Moscovici's term). A minority that is perceived to be making a personal sacrifice for their cause will be viewed in a better light and probably be more convincing than a minority who have little to lose or something to actively gain from promulgating their views. This issue is a little more difficult as the concepts of loss and gain are fuzzy. By adhering to their views, Neo-Fascists do not appear to be making any great sacrifice. Exactly how these organisations ar e funded and the amount of work they place on individual members is not known for sure. The BNP are secretive about such matters, but there is evidence of support from extreme right-wing members of the conservative party, and other 'respectable' patrons (ANL, 1996). Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith's campaign team contained one Edgar Griffin, the father of BNP leader Nick Griffin. When his presence was reported in the mainstream press, he was shown the door amid statements that his BNP connection was not known. I find this hard to swallow and so should you. When it comes to personal sacrifice it looks like the average member of the BNP subscribes to their newsletter, Spearhead and occasionally turns up for racist rallies, such as Griffin's flopped Red, White and Blue Festival or the anniversary of Rudolph Hess' death, which is commemorated each year by Nazis world-wide. All in all, the perception, if not the actual investment of individuals is low. Perhaps if Neo-Fascist organisations were seen to be surrendering something for their cause, rather than acting out of self-interest their message would be more persuasive.
The final behavioural style I shall look at is Autonomy. This ties in with the theme of self-interest. Evidence leads us to believe that a minority acting out of principle alone is more effective at swaying majority opinion than a minority that is seen to be gaining something from promulgating a cause (Moscovici, 1976). the example given by Brown (1988), is that of a famous personality endorsing an unpopular campaign. They will be more credible if we are certain that they are not being paid large sums of money for appearing. The BNP, although not openly seen as receiving any financial gain, are nevertheless perceived as gaining something from distributing their hatred-endorsing message. The BNP's 2001 campaign was quieried for illegal receipt of money from American donors who were misled as to the party's agenda. Neo-Fascists are perceived by the majority as acting out of self-interest and misplaced confidence in a primitive belief system.
Finally, I think something should be said about how Neo-Fascist parties have been allowed to creep in at the corners of the political arena in recent years. After the war, Nazi ideology was not something you admitted to holding, but nevertheless, isolated groups of individuals remained loyal to Hitler's beliefs. A natural progression occurred throughout the post-war years as through communication of ideas, Nazism made the transition from an Anomic minority, a loose collection of individuals with no structure or commitment, to a Nomic minority. An organised, structured group with internal norms and a strong commitment. The Nazi's capitalised on the growing level of immigration and the economic recession and blamed the latter on the former. People's ignorance of the global economic situation and other external reasons for the rising level of unemployment and the upward march of inflation, allowed the Nazis to get a 'foot in the door' with their "phoney patriotic jargon" as their own leader put it. Although, thankfully, the media (doing something good for a change) alerted many of us to the pr esence of Fascist ideals in our midst, for a moment the climate was just right for a Fascist revival. Hopefully, the Zietgiest - the overall direction of social norms - has reversed, and we can continue to work towards a hate-free society.
Anti Nazi League (1995-6) Newsletters, Anti Nazi League.
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