The Extreme Gone Mainstream: Commercialization and Far Right Youth Culture in Germany

by Cynthia Miller-Idriss

How extremism is going mainstream in Germany through clothing brands laced with racist and nationalist symbols

The past decade has witnessed a steady increase in far right politics, social movements, and extremist violence in Europe. Scholars and policymakers have struggled to understand the causes and dynamics that have made the far right so appealing to so many people--in other words, that have made the extreme more mainstream. In this book, Cynthia Miller-Idriss examines how extremist ideologies have entered mainstream German culture through commercialized products and clothing laced with extremist, anti-Semitic, racist, and nationalist coded symbols and references.

Drawing on a unique digital archive of thousands of historical and contemporary images, as well as scores of interviews with young people and their teachers in two German vocational schools with histories of extremist youth presence, Miller-Idriss shows how this commercialization is part of a radical transformation happening today in German far right youth subculture. She describes how these young people have gravitated away from the singular, hard-edged skinhead style in favor of sophisticated and fashionable commercial brands that deploy coded extremist symbols. Virtually indistinguishable in style from other popular clothing, the new brands desensitize far right consumers to extremist ideas and dehumanize victims.

Required reading for anyone concerned about the global resurgence of the far right, The Extreme Gone Mainstream reveals how style and aesthetic representation serve as one gateway into extremist scenes and subcultures by helping to strengthen racist and nationalist identification and by acting as conduits of resistance to mainstream society.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Sociology, Far Right, Germany, Race

312 pages, Hardcover

Published February 13, 2018

About the author

Cynthia Miller-Idriss is associate professor of education and sociology and director of the International Training and Education Program at American University. Her books include Blood and Culture: Youth, Right-Wing Extremism, and National Belonging in Contemporary Germany.

Reviews

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who studies the far-right and is about to go become a teacher in a German school, this book about how students interact with the far-right via material culture was fascinating!! This book is slightly more academic than the author’s more recent book, but likely approachable for those who enjoy nonfiction. A really interesting analysis of culture and cultural materials focusing on a niche subculture. Would recommend for those interested in German culture, the far-right generally, fashion, material culture, or qualitative & ethnographic academic research.

[Adso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally fascinating. Beyond the ethnographic information (which is by itself quite compelling), this book makes a cogent argument against a purely materialist model of radicalization. Cultural objects, it argues, have their own constitutive power and are not mere epiphenomena. In other words, study of radicalization must incorporate both material conditions and cultural/symbolic forces.

[Tom Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this academic study on how symbols and myths can help draw young people into radical, reactionary and racist politics.

I learned a lot about how underground connections are built by cultural means rather than overt political beliefs. The commercialization of far-right messaging is a baffling world of those making money by weaponizing hate through myths of violence.

Although academic in tone it is eminently readable.

[Ico Maly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, full of interesting data and observations. The analysis could have gone a bit deeper.

[Alex Meves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miller-Idriss walks a tightrope in her illuminating book on the commercialization and fashion of far-right German culture. On one hand, she repeatedly implies that the tangible results of this commercialization have the power to create or shape far-right ideologues. On the other hand, the evidence Miller-Idriss presents paints the word shape to be a misnomer - as it doesn't seem that clothing or other commercialization has the power to mold something from a tabula rasa. Instead, the argument created from the empirical evidence presented seems one that clearly demonstrates fashion strengthening far-right views of nationalism and xenophobia, but not without the previous existence of those views. Perhaps this disconnect between initial thesis and evidence is exacerbated by the structure of the argument. The structure is such that the chapters sometimes seem an effort to describe the clothing physically rather than use it as evidence in a larger argument, so the argument occasionally gets lost.

Although I've been mostly negative, that's only because the negative aspects require more words to point out. The good aspects of the book are much easier to show, and there are many more. The book has tremendous value as an illustration of a purposefully insider culture, as a deep-dive into far-right semiotics, and as a dissertation ripe for extrapolation into other fields, regions, and studies. The methodology is concise and holistic (although the casual reader unfamiliar with social sciences may find the empirical discussions difficult). The chapters on coded messages (2), connections to Norse mythology (3), and issues with banning far-right symbols (5) are especially interesting from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with contemporary German culture. Overall, a good book with a single misstep.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought provoking and informative book, but a bit dry for a casual reader. It's fascinating to read about a subset of young men who are at risk for being sucked in to the far-right movement and also about the clothing companies who somewhat enable this, sometimes intentionally and sometimes inadvertently. It was interesting to read about the subset of youth who were attracted to the far-right movement -- those who are not a part of another group, feel like outsiders, are poorly educated and from poorer families and are looking for something to be proud of. The author doesn't just identify the problem, she gives ideas for a solution. While reading this book I was struck by the similarities between these kids attracted to the far-right with those attracted to ISIS. Really the same thing and also the same portal, just different targets.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the e-review copy of this book.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting but not especially penetrating view of the change in neo-Nazi symbolism in Germany. It's a depressing chronology of the rise of overt neo-Nazi symbolism and brands from more coded and incidental branding.

Miller-Idriss's catalogue of clothing symbology is devoid of the internet irony that has become so prevalent but shares much of the same content. Her interviews with young right-adjacent men aren't particularly confrontational but offer a bit of insight into how directionless people are seduced by the sense of belonging and purpose.

All of it has been gone round before, and the academic cachet adds a bit more quantitative data, but it's still a depressing read. Especially Miller-Idriss's conclusions that engagement, not banning, is the solution.

Somehow white supremacy keeps rising despite everything, becoming more and more overt.