White Rage examines the development of the modern American extreme right and American politics from the 1950s to the present day. It explores the full panoply of extreme right groups, from the remnants of the Ku Klux Klan to skinhead groups and from the militia groups to neo-nazis.
In developing its argument the book:
- discusses the American extreme right in the context of the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11 and the Bush administration;
- explores the American extreme right’s divisions and its pursuit of alliances;
- analyses the movement’s hostilities to other racial groups.
Written in a moment of crisis for the leading extreme right groups, this original study challenges the frequent equation of the extreme right with other sections of the American right. It is a movement whose development and future will be of interest to anyone concerned with race relations and social conflict in modern America.
Introduction 1. Before Brown 2. American Reich 3. Out of the Southland 4. Not All Patriots 5. Race and Religion 6. Fighting for Women 7. A Call to Arms 8. Race and the Right 9. Out of the 1950s
Biography
Martin Durham is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He has written extensively on right-wing politics in Europe and America. Among his publications are Women and Fascism (Routledge, 1998).
The best analytical and historical overview available on the Extreme Right in the United States. Sets a sturdy benchmark for future studies. A profound scholarly voice that captures complexity and nuance while remaining accessible to the lay reader.
Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates, USA
No one seems to have told the most militant ideologues and activists of the extreme right in the US that we are now living in a 'post-fascist age'. Martin Durham's well-researched and highly readable book hauls into the day-light for inspection a subterranean political ecosystem which hosts thriving species of politicized hatreds, racial utopias, conspiracy theories, megalomaniac misreadings of historical reality, systematized religious delusion, and millenarian fantasies, all attempting to burrow their way into the foundations of American democracy. By disentangling and analysing the histories and synergies of the various factions this murky topic is brought within the remit of scholarly historical and rational analysis. If it good to know thine enemy then any humanist concerned with monitoring the minute but tenacious pockets of racial fanaticism, both secular and religious, embedded deep within the social fabric of the world's only superpower will read this book with horrified fascination.
Roger Griffin, Professor in Modern History, Oxford Brooks University, UK
White Rage is the definitive overview of right-wing extremism in the American context, explicating both its complex organizational structure and its surprising debates over issues of race, gender, violence, religion, Nazism, and patriotism Richly detailed and meticulously researched, this is a must-read for anyone interested in the complicated, contentious, and disturbing nature of the far right political movements in the 20th and 21st century U.S.
Kathleen Blee, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh, USARather than take the easy path and dismiss his subjects as lunatics or worse, Durham...presents a serious study of extreme right groups, their development, and their ideologies...Durham differentiates among the groups that follow neo-Nazi ideology, neo-Confederate thinking, and those that see themselves as upholding the true ideals of the American Revolution....Overall, White Rage is a fine introduction to the extreme American right and a valuable reference for anyone who wants to study this movement.
John Ehrman, The Journals of American History, September 2008
