Inside the Extreme Nationalist Movement in Norway Rage and Rally

1. Introduction: Studying Extremism from a Sociological Perspective           

2. Extreme Nationalism as a Social Movement

3. Researching Extreme Nationalist Activism and Mobilisation

4. Defining Those Who Belong and (What to Do With) Those Who Don’t: Extreme Nationalist Ideology and the Importance of Shared Beliefs

5. ‘It was like finding home’: Exploring the Narratives of Individual Trajectories into the Extreme Nationalist Movement

6. ‘We’re a Combat Organisation, Not a Sewing Circle’: Collective Mobilisation on the Extreme Nationalist Scene

7. Conclusions: Extreme Attitudes Are Not Reserved for Ideological Extremists

References

Index

Biography

Christopher Rettedal Fardan is a political sociologist with a PhD from the University of Manchester. Fardan worked as a researcher at the Centre for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Olso from 2022 to 2025.

“This ethnographic study of extreme right nationalism in Norway offers genuinely new insight into the beliefs and emotions that animate it, the relational mechanisms of recruitment, the ambiguous and complex nature of activist trajectories, and the interplay of online and offline dynamics. Through participant observation and interviews with activists, Fardan provides an extraordinarily close up view of what extreme right nationalism looks like in Europe today. It is essential reading for those who seek to understand, and halt, it alike.”

Hilary Pilkington, Professor of Sociology, University of Manchester

“Dr. Fardan’s book is based on a unique fieldwork with observation of public street activities as well as interviews with hard-to-reach leading activists from two of the main extreme nationalist movements in Norway, the Nordic Resistance Movement and the Stop Islamisation of Norway. His study insights offer rare insights into what is going on behind the scenes.”

Prof Tore Bjørgo, Founding director of Centre for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo

“The rise of extreme right nationalism is one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary European politics. In this timely and compelling book, Fardan examines the varied forms of extreme nationalism in Norway, shedding light on how these movements emerge, recruit, and mobilise. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research, including interviews and participant observation, the book offers a nuanced analysis of the social dynamics and ideologies underpinning extreme nationalist activism. The doctoral research on which this book is based was awarded the 2024 Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence Doctoral Thesis Prize, in recognition of its significant contribution to both academic and public debates on this important topic.”

Dr Davide Schmid, Deputy Director and Chair of the Prize Judging Committee of the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence

“This book is essential reading for social movement scholars interested in explaining not only the dynamics of extreme right mobilisation today, but in grasping theoretically the complexities of recruitment, participation, and activist trajectories. An exemplar of the ethnographer’s craft, Fardan is able to situate movement processes in the previously unknown and inherently ambiguous lifeworlds of extreme right activists, and to interrogate their narratives, identities, and forms of solidarity from a critical social movement perspective.”

Dr Gemma Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Manchester