The enduring image of the racist skinhead, with his
signature shaved head, black combat boots and bomber jacket, has all but
disappeared.
In its place is a fragmented set of mainstream styles and
streetwear brands that use coded symbols and messages to market extremist
politics, turning T-shirts and hoodies into walking billboards to communicate
with insiders and outsiders alike. Especially popular across Eastern Europe and
Russia, the clothing is often high-quality, with T-shirts alone costing upwards
of $35.
In my interviews with 51 youth in and around far-right
scenes in Germany (all of whom were apprentices in construction trades), I
found that this clothing is far from just a reflection of youth identity. It
also helps mobilize the far-right.
One way this happens is by opening access to certain
far-right environments. One 16-year-old self-identified right-wing nationalist
told me that clothing can act as a ticket to underground concerts and events
where youth aren't already known. The coded messages of their dress send
signals to insiders.
Sometimes, alphanumeric sequences of numbers and letters
stand in for racist or nationalist phrases. ("2YT4U," for example,
means "too white for you.") Other coding deliberately plays on what's
called the "gray zone," offering plausible deniability to law enforcement,
teachers, parents and other authorities. Thus, a purple T-shirt that says, in
big white block letters, "MY FAVORITE COLOR IS WHITE," could be read
as a white supremacist message or as a humorous play on the color of the shirt.
In more overt examples, the clothing spreads nationalist and
extremist ideals with symbols, iconography and messages that call on consumers
to be patriotic, celebrating the nation, country and whiteness. References to
myths and historical events, like the Crusades or Reconquista (a Spanish pogrom
against Muslims in the Middle Ages), are sometimes paired with mentions of
contemporary regional tensions, so that the phrase "Reconquista
Crimea" hints at a violent expulsion of Muslims from Crimea.
Much of the nationalist messaging also connects to the
global far right. A Polish nationalist streetwear brand sells a T-shirt
depicting the US Confederate flag. Other Eastern European and Russian brands
widely adopt runic and Viking symbols, which appeal to German far-right groups
who believe Germanic tribes descended from Nordic tribes whose origins were
Aryan. References to Nazi history are common internationally, and English text
-- in phrases like "White Fist," "Hate Club," "Rising
Storm," "Zero Tolerance" and "Warrior" -- is
ubiquitous.
Finally, the clothing helps mobilize extremism with emotional
appeals that facilitate a sense of belonging with like-minded others who, as
one young man told me, "can't exactly identify with mainstream
society."
Constant references to ideals like brotherhood, belonging,
loyalty, glory, creed, nation and race help foster a sense of belonging, while
singling out those who don't belong. These messages are paired with calls for
revolution and resistance, and images of skulls and weapons like brass
knuckles, axes, knives and guns. In this way, the clothing literally embodies
violence and combat.
Nationalist streetwear is not the sole driver of
radicalization, of course. But along with far-right music lyrics, internet
forums, YouTube videos and political rhetoric from far-right leaders, clothing
can intensify exposure to ideological claims. These brands encourage consumers
to accept an ideology that positions us against them in a war to the end,
valorizes violence as the moral solution and calls on individuals to join the
righteous fight to restore the nation or white heritage.
They use iconography and messaging that dehumanizes migrants
and minorities, legitimizes and celebrates violent revolution, identifies the
"evil other" and calls on the righteous to take action.
In this sense, nationalist streetwear acts as a gateway to
extremism. It socializes youth toward extremist values and ideals while
offering a noble quest and sense of purpose and identity, all the while
softening racist and xenophobic expression through humor and clever, coded
references.
T-shirts are more than just T-shirts, in other words. As
part of a broader youth subculture, they can strengthen racist and nationalist
identification and mobilize extremist action and violence.
