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Throughout history, different social movements spanning from the political left to the political right have been associated with specific forms of music. The left-wing youth movement stemming from the student protests of 1968 is perhaps one of the most well-known examples of a social movement that was described and defined through the music of that era (Eyerman and Jamison 1998). Music has also played a part in right-wing social movements. White power music within traditional far-right groups, such as neo-Nazi skinheads, has often been the centre of public attention for these groups and for researchers attempting to understand these milieus (Cotter 1999; Brown 2004; Futrell et al. 2006; Corte and Edwards 2008; Shaffer 2013; Teitelbaum 2017; Dyck 2017). The present article is concerned with the political far right. Whereas music within traditionally far-right milieus has often been at the centre of attention, newer developments on the far right have seldom been analysed or characterised by their musical styles. The present article argues that more attention to the music style of newer groups on the far right has the potential to provide a better understanding of their worldview and the emotionality connected to it – in other words, what the participants in these groups have in common. This article exemplifies this potential through a substantial empirical analysis of the Danish Identitarian movement, called Generation Identitær (GI), and its use of the musical genre of fashwave in its online videos.
Together with movements such as the moderate parts of the Alt-Right, the Identitarian movement has been described as ‘ethnic nationalist’ (Bjørgo and Ravndal 2019). Categorising the Identitarian movement as such underscores the movement's focus on defending (primarily) European nations from foreign peoples and cultures, mainly Muslims (Bjørgo and Ravndal 2019). With historical roots in the ideologues connected to the Nazi-collaborating Vichy government in France, who would later form the New Far Right (de Benoist 1977; Faye 1981), and contemporary Identitarian leaders’ alleged history in neo-Nazi movements (see Pedersen 2021, p. 66), the Identitarians have been met with criticism and accusations of being ‘rebranded racists’ and have been under surveillance by different countries’ intelligence services (Pedersen 2021, p. 65). Although the Identitarian movement may not be large in numbers in all Western countries, it has a significant presence...