Nigel Copsey
Biographic Data
| ID | 541809 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nigel Copsey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nigel |
| FAMILY NAME | Copsey |
| SIGNATURE | COPSEY N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Teesside University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1065-3323 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 51 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 4 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Retweet solidarity: Transatlantic Twitter connectivity between militant antifascists in the USA and UK
In this article we explore the extent of the digital connectivity and character of the mediated solidarity discernible between a selection of militant antifascist groups in the USA and UK on Twitter. By studying the geographical scalarity of the retweet practices of six case study groups in these two countries (from New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, Brighton, Liverpool, and London) and the content of a sub-sample of these groups’ retweets we…
Anti-Fascism in a Global Perspective: Transnational Networks, Exile Communities, and Radical Internationalism
Hitler's seizure of power and the transnational anti-fascist movement in the Nordic countries
Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism: The Transformation of Extremism
Music, Youth and International Links in Post-War British Fascism: The Transformation of Extremism." Politics, Religion & Ideology, 20(1), pp. 135–136
Transatlantic Antifascisms: From the Spanish Civil War to the End of World War II, by Michael Seidman
Measure the volume of scholarly work first on fascism and then on anti-fascism, and the asymmetry between the two is stark. Michael Seidman opens his book with the observation that there are thirty times more publications on fascism than on anti-fascism. Academic interest in anti-fascism has been limited. Indeed, so limited, Seidman claims, that ‘no historian or social scientist has previously attempted to define the nature, types, and history of…
The Radical Right and Fascism
Within the political science community, scholars typically draw a sharp distinction between the “radical right” and “fascism.” This chapter challenges such a distinction, and encourages scholars to reprise fascism’s relationship to the radical right. It suggests that (neo)fascism’s past offers the best route to understanding the present-day radical right. Such a historical interpretation seeks to enhance our understanding of the central importanc…
Militant Antifascism: An Alternative (Historical) Reading
George Pitt-Rivers and the Nazis . By Bradley W. Hart
Crossing Borders: Anti-Fascist Action (UK) and Transnational Anti-Fascist Militancy in the 1990s
Far too little academic attention has been paid to more contemporary forms of transnational anti-fascist militancy. Yet this study supports the idea that this field of anti-fascist activity has remained important. This article examines transnational anti-fascist militancy in the 1990s through a case study of Britain's Anti-Fascist Action (AFA). In doing so it offers an in-depth account of AFA's attempts to establish an international militant anti…
Cultures of Post-War British Fascism
Introduction 1. Cultural regeneration :Mosley and the Union Movement Janet Dack 2. History and cultural heritage: The far right and the 'Battle for Britain' Steven Woodbridge 3. Cultures of space: Spatialising the National Front Thomas Linehan 4. Securing the future of our race: Women in the culture of the modern-day BNP Martin Durham 5. British neo-Nazi fiction: Colin Jordan's Merrie England - 2000 and The Uprising Paul Jackson 6.When popular cu…
Re-energizing British fascism
Historians searching for an original project might be well advised to steer clear of the subject of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). The field of interwar British fascism is so well trodden tha
Cultures of Post-War British Fascism
‘Fascism… but with an open mind.’ Reflections on the Contemporary Far Right in (Western) Europe: First Lecture on Fascism – Amsterdam – 25 April 2013
The political science community would have us believe that since the 1980s something entirely detached from historical or neo-fascism has emerged in (Western) Europe - a populist radicalization of mainstream concerns - a novel form of ‘radical right-wing populism.’ Yet the concept of ‘radical right-wing populism’ is deeply problematic because it suggests that (Western) Europe’s contemporary far right has become essentially different from forms of…
Fascist Ideologues. Past and Present: Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies Teesside University, 4-5 July 2013
This international conference, organised by Teesside University in conjunction with the University of Cambridge (John Pollard), offered a variety of perspectives on leading fascist and far-right ideologues over the course of the twentieth (and into the twenty-first) century. Focusing upon the historical impact and contemporary influence of key far-right figures and intellectual trends (such as transnationalism and meta-politics), the conference b…
Au Revoir to “Sacred Cows”? Assessing the Impact of the Nouvelle Droite in Britain
This article assesses the impact of the Nouvelle Droite on the extreme right in contemporary Britain. Occupying a central focus is the role of Scorpion magazine, edited by Michael Walker. The author examines the promotion of the Nouvelle Droite by Scorpion, and in particular Walker's attempts to encourage the British far right to bury two of its “sacred cows”: conspiracy theory and biological racism. He then identifies how Nouvelle Droite thought…
Fascism studies (and the ‘Post-Fascist’ era): An ideal meeting ground
As a historian of fascism's recent manifestations, I am acutely aware of the continuing and rather unfortunate division between historians and political scientists that still obtains in the field of fascism studies. "Most political scientists", as Roger Eatwell put it some time ago, "use the term 'fascism' in the contemporary context within a rigid inter-war template" (Eatwell 2004 , 6). Despite the laudable attempt of Roger Griffin and others to…
Sustaining a mortal blow? The British National Party and the 2010 general and local elections
In this article Nigel Copsey explores the British National Party's 2010 general and local election campaign and the political responses to it in two key BNP target constituencies (Barking and Stoke-on-Trent Central). As he shows, despite fractious legal action brought against the party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and a negligent attitude towards local activity, the BNP had approached the 2010 general and local elections in conf…
Communists and the Inter-War Anti-Fascist Struggle in the United States and Britain
This article offers a comparison of the Communist anti-fascist experience in the United States and Britain in the inter-war period. The focus is on opposition to domestic fascism and the comparison extends across three areas, namely, respective analyses, organization, and political violence. This article demonstrates how both Communist parties initially understood fascism as a developing trend within bourgeois capitalist democracy before they, re…
The Extreme Right in Interwar France: The Faisceau and the Croix de Feu
Samuel Kalman. The Extreme Right in Interwar France: The Faisceau and the Croix de Feu. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Pp. x, 265. £60.00. The Guerre franco-francaise – the ideological conflict that pit
Varieties of Anti-Fascism: Britain in the Inter-War Period
This volume examines the varieties of anti-fascism in inter-war Britain. Ordinarily anti-fascism is defined in terms of anti-fascist activism. By extending the scope of the concept, this book breaks n
Uniting a Divided Community? Re-appraising Jewish Responses to British Fascist Antisemitism, 1932-39
Traditionally, work on Anglo-Jewish responses to British fascism has concentrated on its ‘working-class’, activist manifestations, particularly in east London over the period 1935-37, when Jews were prominently involved in confronting the British Union of Fascists. Such a focus has neglected other forms of Jewish activity, and this study examines two such aspects — early responses in the period up to 1935, and the defence work of the Board of Dep…
Opposition to the New Party: An Incipient Anti-Fascism or a Defence Against ‘Mosleyitis’
Within histories of British fascism and anti-fascism, opposition to the New Party has attracted scant attention. The preamble to more serious episodes of conflict between Mosley's Blackshirts and their anti-fascist opponents, typically invites only the most cursory of accounts. However, as this article demonstrates, labour movement opposition to the New Party should not be dealt with simply as a form of embryonic anti-fascism. The author argues t…
Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy
No other political party in the history of Britain's fascist tradition has been as successful at the ballot box as today's British National Party (BNP). This thoroughly revised and updated edition of
Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999–2006
Copsey examines the ideological development of the British National Party (BNP) under the leadership of Nick Griffin. Until recently, Griffin's programme of 'modernization' had considered ideology a secondary concern. Ideological debates were put to one side as Griffin looked to transform the BNP from a political pariah into a respectable electoral party capable of entering Britain's mainstream. At first, the BNP simply borrowed from the discursi…
Nazis in Pre-War London 1930–1939: The Fate and Role of German Party Members and British Sympathizers
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State
Considerable attention has been paid to far-right parties and their leaders, Oswald Mosley, A. K. Chesterton, John Tyndall and Nick Griffin. But what about the forces that have been organised in oppos
Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999–2006
Copsey examines the ideological development of the British National Party (BNP) under the leadership of Nick Griffin. Until recently, Griffin's programme of 'modernization' had considered ideology a secondary concern. Ideological debates were put to one side as Griffin looked to transform the BNP from a political pariah into a respectable electoral party capable of entering Britain's mainstream. At first, the BNP simply borrowed from the discursi…
A Comparison between the Extreme Right in Contemporary France and Britain
Except for a small number of recent studies existing literature on the contemporary extreme right tends to follow a quite rigid country by country-based approach which fails to develop common theoretical perspectives. The key weakness of these specialised multi-country studies is neglect of a genuine comparative framework which often results in collections of ‘descriptive’ essays. The primary intention of this paper is to move beyond this approac…
Crossing Borders: Anti-Fascist Action (UK) and Transnational Anti-Fascist Militancy in the 1990s
Far too little academic attention has been paid to more contemporary forms of transnational anti-fascist militancy. Yet this study supports the idea that this field of anti-fascist activity has remained important. This article examines transnational anti-fascist militancy in the 1990s through a case study of Britain's Anti-Fascist Action (AFA). In doing so it offers an in-depth account of AFA's attempts to establish an international militant anti…
Au Revoir to “Sacred Cows”? Assessing the Impact of the Nouvelle Droite in Britain
This article assesses the impact of the Nouvelle Droite on the extreme right in contemporary Britain. Occupying a central focus is the role of Scorpion magazine, edited by Michael Walker. The author examines the promotion of the Nouvelle Droite by Scorpion, and in particular Walker's attempts to encourage the British far right to bury two of its “sacred cows”: conspiracy theory and biological racism. He then identifies how Nouvelle Droite thought…
Militant Antifascism: An Alternative (Historical) Reading
Sustaining a mortal blow? The British National Party and the 2010 general and local elections
In this article Nigel Copsey explores the British National Party's 2010 general and local election campaign and the political responses to it in two key BNP target constituencies (Barking and Stoke-on-Trent Central). As he shows, despite fractious legal action brought against the party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and a negligent attitude towards local activity, the BNP had approached the 2010 general and local elections in conf…
Fascism: The Ideology of the British National Party
The revival in interest in the British far right as a result of recent localised growth in support for the British National Party (BNP) necessitates analysis of its political ideology and objectives. This article seeks to demonstrate that the BNP is virulently hostile to liberal democracy and that this hostility derives from its revolutionary, fascist agenda. The point that the BNP is a fascist organisation is significant and cannot be ignored. A…
Communists and the Inter-War Anti-Fascist Struggle in the United States and Britain
This article offers a comparison of the Communist anti-fascist experience in the United States and Britain in the inter-war period. The focus is on opposition to domestic fascism and the comparison extends across three areas, namely, respective analyses, organization, and political violence. This article demonstrates how both Communist parties initially understood fascism as a developing trend within bourgeois capitalist democracy before they, re…
Opposition to the New Party: An Incipient Anti-Fascism or a Defence Against ‘Mosleyitis’
Within histories of British fascism and anti-fascism, opposition to the New Party has attracted scant attention. The preamble to more serious episodes of conflict between Mosley's Blackshirts and their anti-fascist opponents, typically invites only the most cursory of accounts. However, as this article demonstrates, labour movement opposition to the New Party should not be dealt with simply as a form of embryonic anti-fascism. The author argues t…
Fascism: The Ideology of the British National Party
The revival in interest in the British far right as a result of recent localised growth in support for the British National Party (BNP) necessitates analysis of its political ideology and objectives. This article seeks to demonstrate that the BNP is virulently hostile to liberal democracy and that this hostility derives from its revolutionary, fascist agenda. The point that the BNP is a fascist organisation is significant and cannot be ignored. A…
A Comparison between the Extreme Right in Contemporary France and Britain
Except for a small number of recent studies existing literature on the contemporary extreme right tends to follow a quite rigid country by country-based approach which fails to develop common theoretical perspectives. The key weakness of these specialised multi-country studies is neglect of a genuine comparative framework which often results in collections of ‘descriptive’ essays. The primary intention of this paper is to move beyond this approac…
Anti-Fascism in Britain
Anti-fascism has long been one of the most active and dynamic areas of radical protest and direct action. Yet it is an area of struggle and popular resistance that remains largely unexplored by historians, sociologists and political scientists. Fully revised and updated from its earlier edition, this book continues to provide the definitive account of anti-fascism in Britain from its roots in the 1930s opposition to Oswald Mosley and the British …
Anti‐semitism and the Jewish community of Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne
After briefly outlining the historical development of the Jewish community in Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, this article examines the extent to which anti‐Semitism was a major concern in the life of modern North‐East Jewry. The focus of this discussion is on the 1930s and 1940s, a period when anti‐Semitism assumed greater significance. What this artcle revals is that on Tyneside, even though the fear of anti‐Semitism gave rise to active responses from wit…
John Amery: The antisemitism of the 'perfect English gentleman
The author explores the antisemitism of John Amery, the fascist renegade who along with William Joyce was hanged for treason after the Second World War. Like Joyce, Amery was a radio propagandist who made a series of war-time broadcasts from Berlin. Beyond this, he also tried to enlist British POWs to fight against the Soviets on the Eastern Front. Amery was the son of a senior British cabinet minister and yet, compared with Joyce, he has receive…
Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy
For the first time since the 1970s when the National Front became Britain's fourth largest political party, the recent electoral success of the British National Party has put Britain's extreme right b
British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State
Considerable attention has been paid to far-right parties and their leaders, Oswald Mosley, A. K. Chesterton, John Tyndall and Nick Griffin. But what about the forces that have been organised in oppos
Nazis in Pre-War London 1930–1939: The Fate and Role of German Party Members and British Sympathizers
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Changing course or changing clothes? Reflections on the ideological evolution of the British National Party 1999–2006
Copsey examines the ideological development of the British National Party (BNP) under the leadership of Nick Griffin. Until recently, Griffin's programme of 'modernization' had considered ideology a secondary concern. Ideological debates were put to one side as Griffin looked to transform the BNP from a political pariah into a respectable electoral party capable of entering Britain's mainstream. At first, the BNP simply borrowed from the discursi…
Contemporary British Fascism: The British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy
No other political party in the history of Britain's fascist tradition has been as successful at the ballot box as today's British National Party (BNP). This thoroughly revised and updated edition of
Uniting a Divided Community? Re-appraising Jewish Responses to British Fascist Antisemitism, 1932-39
Traditionally, work on Anglo-Jewish responses to British fascism has concentrated on its ‘working-class’, activist manifestations, particularly in east London over the period 1935-37, when Jews were prominently involved in confronting the British Union of Fascists. Such a focus has neglected other forms of Jewish activity, and this study examines two such aspects — early responses in the period up to 1935, and the defence work of the Board of Dep…
Opposition to the New Party: An Incipient Anti-Fascism or a Defence Against ‘Mosleyitis’
Within histories of British fascism and anti-fascism, opposition to the New Party has attracted scant attention. The preamble to more serious episodes of conflict between Mosley's Blackshirts and their anti-fascist opponents, typically invites only the most cursory of accounts. However, as this article demonstrates, labour movement opposition to the New Party should not be dealt with simply as a form of embryonic anti-fascism. The author argues t…
Varieties of Anti-Fascism: Britain in the Inter-War Period
This volume examines the varieties of anti-fascism in inter-war Britain. Ordinarily anti-fascism is defined in terms of anti-fascist activism. By extending the scope of the concept, this book breaks n
Communists and the Inter-War Anti-Fascist Struggle in the United States and Britain
This article offers a comparison of the Communist anti-fascist experience in the United States and Britain in the inter-war period. The focus is on opposition to domestic fascism and the comparison extends across three areas, namely, respective analyses, organization, and political violence. This article demonstrates how both Communist parties initially understood fascism as a developing trend within bourgeois capitalist democracy before they, re…
The Extreme Right in Interwar France: The Faisceau and the Croix de Feu
Samuel Kalman. The Extreme Right in Interwar France: The Faisceau and the Croix de Feu. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008. Pp. x, 265. £60.00. The Guerre franco-francaise – the ideological conflict that pit
Fascism studies (and the ‘Post-Fascist’ era): An ideal meeting ground
As a historian of fascism's recent manifestations, I am acutely aware of the continuing and rather unfortunate division between historians and political scientists that still obtains in the field of fascism studies. "Most political scientists", as Roger Eatwell put it some time ago, "use the term 'fascism' in the contemporary context within a rigid inter-war template" (Eatwell 2004 , 6). Despite the laudable attempt of Roger Griffin and others to…
Sustaining a mortal blow? The British National Party and the 2010 general and local elections
In this article Nigel Copsey explores the British National Party's 2010 general and local election campaign and the political responses to it in two key BNP target constituencies (Barking and Stoke-on-Trent Central). As he shows, despite fractious legal action brought against the party by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, and a negligent attitude towards local activity, the BNP had approached the 2010 general and local elections in conf…
‘Fascism… but with an open mind.’ Reflections on the Contemporary Far Right in (Western) Europe: First Lecture on Fascism – Amsterdam – 25 April 2013
The political science community would have us believe that since the 1980s something entirely detached from historical or neo-fascism has emerged in (Western) Europe - a populist radicalization of mainstream concerns - a novel form of ‘radical right-wing populism.’ Yet the concept of ‘radical right-wing populism’ is deeply problematic because it suggests that (Western) Europe’s contemporary far right has become essentially different from forms of…
Fascist Ideologues. Past and Present: Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies Teesside University, 4-5 July 2013
This international conference, organised by Teesside University in conjunction with the University of Cambridge (John Pollard), offered a variety of perspectives on leading fascist and far-right ideologues over the course of the twentieth (and into the twenty-first) century. Focusing upon the historical impact and contemporary influence of key far-right figures and intellectual trends (such as transnationalism and meta-politics), the conference b…
Au Revoir to “Sacred Cows”? Assessing the Impact of the Nouvelle Droite in Britain
This article assesses the impact of the Nouvelle Droite on the extreme right in contemporary Britain. Occupying a central focus is the role of Scorpion magazine, edited by Michael Walker. The author examines the promotion of the Nouvelle Droite by Scorpion, and in particular Walker's attempts to encourage the British far right to bury two of its “sacred cows”: conspiracy theory and biological racism. He then identifies how Nouvelle Droite thought…
Cultures of Post-War British Fascism
Introduction 1. Cultural regeneration :Mosley and the Union Movement Janet Dack 2. History and cultural heritage: The far right and the 'Battle for Britain' Steven Woodbridge 3. Cultures of space: Spatialising the National Front Thomas Linehan 4. Securing the future of our race: Women in the culture of the modern-day BNP Martin Durham 5. British neo-Nazi fiction: Colin Jordan's Merrie England - 2000 and The Uprising Paul Jackson 6.When popular cu…
Re-energizing British fascism
Historians searching for an original project might be well advised to steer clear of the subject of the British Union of Fascists (BUF). The field of interwar British fascism is so well trodden tha
Cultures of Post-War British Fascism
George Pitt-Rivers and the Nazis . By Bradley W. Hart
Crossing Borders: Anti-Fascist Action (UK) and Transnational Anti-Fascist Militancy in the 1990s
Far too little academic attention has been paid to more contemporary forms of transnational anti-fascist militancy. Yet this study supports the idea that this field of anti-fascist activity has remained important. This article examines transnational anti-fascist militancy in the 1990s through a case study of Britain's Anti-Fascist Action (AFA). In doing so it offers an in-depth account of AFA's attempts to establish an international militant anti…
Political science (27 works) · History (22 works) · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society (21 works) · Law (21 works) · Politics (18 works) · Sociology (18 works) · History (15 works) · Law (15 works) · Economic history (10 works) · politics and government (8 works)