Lions of the North

Often labeled "neo-Nazis" or "right-wing extremists," radical nationalists in the Nordic countries have always relied on music to voice their opposition to immigration and multiculturalism. These actors shook political establishments throughout Sweden, Denmark, and Norway during the 1980s and 1990s by rallying around white power music and skinhead subculture. But though nationalists once embraced a reputation for crude chauvinism, they are now seeking to reinvent themselves as upstanding and righteous, and they are using music to do it. Lions of the North explores this transformation of anti-immigrant activism in the Nordic countries as it manifests in thought and sound. Offering a rare ethnographic glimpse into controversial and secretive political movements, it investigates changes in the music nationalists make and patronize, reading their puzzling embrace of lite pop, folk music, even rap and reggae as attempts to escape stereotypes and craft a new image for themselves. Lions of the North not only exposes the dynamic relationship between music and politics, but also the ways radical nationalism is adapting to succeed in some of the most liberal societies in the world.

Winner of Honorable mention for ISA's 2018 International Political Sociology Book Award.

“"Teitelbaum is an ethnomusicologist who has adopted a refreshingly non-adversarial, multi-year, ''collaborative'' ethnographic approach to interacting with and gathering information on his subjects. In a field in which far too many researchers violate normal scholarly standards by embracing a highly partisan and indeed overtly hostile activist posture towards their subjects of study rather than a relatively detached, disinterested or empathetic posture, this is to be welcomed." -- Patterns of Prejudice "elaborate and intimate ... Benjamin R. Teitelbaum has initiated a dialogue on what constitutes the new nationalism. If we are willing to engage in this dialogue with him, we need to step out of the view of politics as merely concerning the game of party politics, and widen our horizons to consider the wider societal implications of the new Nordic right nationalism. This move means realizing that populism is not merely about brutish skinheads, and that it operates in subtle ways not alien to -- but conversely ingrained in -- the political mainstream." -- Scandinavian Studies "Lions of the North is a deftly crafted and immensely captivating account of how music plays a key part in the inner workings of Nordic radical nationalist groups. By convincingly arguing for, and consistently applying a "collaborative" approach to ethnographic fieldwork, Teitelbaum avoids any notions of underlying advocacy, a tendency which characterizes many studies on extremist groups. This fearless and thoughtful approach transcends existing scholarship, opening for innovative perspectives that challenge us to see the motivations of radical groups in a new light...Teitelbaum''s exceptional, but well-argued approach to fieldwork is challenging and provocative, and is poised to spark discussions among a wide array of scholars."--Jan Sverre Knudsen, Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College "Teitelbaum''s vivid and highly readable documentation of the Scandinavian far right music scene encourages us to take racist subcultures, their international links, and the sheer creative vitality of their racism and xenophobia seriously as a strategy for perpetuating dreams of national-racial rebirth in a democratic age."--Roger Griffin, author of The Nature of Fascism "Lions of the North is a very timely book, which captures the rise of Sweden''s radical nationalism as the music of the right is transforming diverse political groups into a widespread anti-immigrant movement. Teitelbaum''s penetrating, often disturbing, analysis of European musical politics today is critical reading."--Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, The University of Chicago, and author of Jewish Music and Modernity "Teitelbaum explores with elegance the differences between nationalist factions today ... A brilliant approach [studying the far right through its music] ... During a time when attempts to explain the growth of the extreme right seem only to point to the failures of the left, it is uplifting to read such a methodical account from the inside of the extreme right" -- Aftonbladet "Lions of the North is an entirely unparalleled study." --Arbetaren "Teitelbaum''s analyses of internal discussions about the appropriateness of using foreign music in nationalist activism are consistently fascinating" --Respons "Exploring crucial, yet often overlooked dimensions of neo-nationalism through the lens of music--such as its emotional, embodied, and gendered components--Lions of the North is a significant contribution to scholarship. The exceptionally well-written and nuanced book sheds unique light on musical politics. It is essential reading for all who want to better understand the rise, character, and appeal of radical nationalism in the Nordic countries and beyond." --EuropeNow "Benjamin Teitelbaum''s Lions of the North is an unflinching assessment of modern Nordic radical nationalism seen through the lens of its fragmented musical affinities, subsequent to the decline of the white power punk scene that once unified it as a cultural space. In privileging the views of radical nationalists the book provides the reader a unique vantage point...putting the greatest advantages and disadvantages of ethnographic methodology itself in stark relief. Lions of the North should be required reading for any scholar of nationalism and any student of ethnography." --Ethnomusicology Forum "Lions of the North is as timely and important as it is provocative and troubling" -- American Ethnologist "These days it is refreshing, not to mention vital, to have the outsider''s perspective that Benjamin Teitelbaum offers in his solid study Lions of the North [...] The deluge of emotion that often muddies debates about nationalism is scaled back in a book devoted to understanding rather than criticism" --Svenska Dagbladet”

"Teitelbaum is an ethnomusicologist who has adopted a refreshingly non-adversarial, multi-year, 'collaborative' ethnographic approach to interacting with and gathering information on his subjects. In a field in which far too many researchers violate normal scholarly standards by embracing a highly partisan and indeed overtly hostile activist posture towards their subjects of study rather than a relatively detached, disinterested or empathetic posture, this is to be welcomed." -- Patterns of Prejudice "elaborate and intimate ... Benjamin R. Teitelbaum has initiated a dialogue on what constitutes the new nationalism. If we are willing to engage in this dialogue with him, we need to step out of the view of politics as merely concerning the game of party politics, and widen our horizons to consider the wider societal implications of the new Nordic right nationalism. This move means realizing that populism is not merely about brutish skinheads, and that it operates in subtle ways not alien to -- but conversely ingrained in -- the political mainstream." -- Scandinavian Studies "Lions of the North is a deftly crafted and immensely captivating account of how music plays a key part in the inner workings of Nordic radical nationalist groups. By convincingly arguing for, and consistently applying a "collaborative" approach to ethnographic fieldwork, Teitelbaum avoids any notions of underlying advocacy, a tendency which characterizes many studies on extremist groups. This fearless and thoughtful approach transcends existing scholarship, opening for innovative perspectives that challenge us to see the motivations of radical groups in a new light...Teitelbaum's exceptional, but well-argued approach to fieldwork is challenging and provocative, and is poised to spark discussions among a wide array of scholars."--Jan Sverre Knudsen, Professor, Oslo and Akershus University College "Teitelbaum's vivid and highly readable documentation of the Scandinavian far right music scene encourages us to take racist subcultures, their international links, and the sheer creative vitality of their racism and xenophobia seriously as a strategy for perpetuating dreams of national-racial rebirth in a democratic age."--Roger Griffin, author of The Nature of Fascism "Lions of the North is a very timely book, which captures the rise of Sweden's radical nationalism as the music of the right is transforming diverse political groups into a widespread anti-immigrant movement. Teitelbaum's penetrating, often disturbing, analysis of European musical politics today is critical reading."--Philip V. Bohlman, Ludwig Rosenberger Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish History, The University of Chicago, and author of Jewish Music and Modernity "Teitelbaum explores with elegance the differences between nationalist factions today ... A brilliant approach [studying the far right through its music] ... During a time when attempts to explain the growth of the extreme right seem only to point to the failures of the left, it is uplifting to read such a methodical account from the inside of the extreme right" -- Aftonbladet "Lions of the North is an entirely unparalleled study." --Arbetaren "Teitelbaum's analyses of internal discussions about the appropriateness of using foreign music in nationalist activism are consistently fascinating" --Respons "Exploring crucial, yet often overlooked dimensions of neo-nationalism through the lens of music--such as its emotional, embodied, and gendered components--Lions of the North is a significant contribution to scholarship. The exceptionally well-written and nuanced book sheds unique light on musical politics. It is essential reading for all who want to better understand the rise, character, and appeal of radical nationalism in the Nordic countries and beyond." --EuropeNow "Benjamin Teitelbaum's Lions of the North is an unflinching assessment of modern Nordic radical nationalism seen through the lens of its fragmented musical affinities, subsequent to the decline of the white power punk scene that once unified it as a cultural space. In privileging the views of radical nationalists the book provides the reader a unique vantage point...putting the greatest advantages and disadvantages of ethnographic methodology itself in stark relief. Lions of the North should be required reading for any scholar of nationalism and any student of ethnography." --Ethnomusicology Forum "Lions of the North is as timely and important as it is provocative and troubling" -- American Ethnologist "These days it is refreshing, not to mention vital, to have the outsider's perspective that Benjamin Teitelbaum offers in his solid study Lions of the North [...] The deluge of emotion that often muddies debates about nationalism is scaled back in a book devoted to understanding rather than criticism" --Svenska Dagbladet

Benjamin R. Teitelbaum earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Brown University in 2013. He is Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and former Head of Nordic Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and has been affiliate faculty in Music and International Affairs since 2012. His research focuses on western ultraconservatism, music in the Nordic countries, and music and politics.

In September of 2010, the Daily Mail Reporter announced "Anti-immigration party formed from skinhead movement seizes balance of power in Sweden." A politics of skinhead protest, expressed through White Power Music and an explicitly nationalistic subgenre known as Viking Rock, has relied on its music to voice opposition to immigration and multiculturism. Often labeled "neo-Nazis" or "right-wing extremists," these actors shook political establishmentsthroughout Sweden, Denmark, and Norway during the 1980s and 1990s by rallying around white power music and skinhead subculture. More recently, however, these groups methodically revised their presentation in an effort to refashion themselves as upstanding, intelligent champions of love and human diversity, and onceagain using music to do so. In Lions of the North: Sounds of the New Nordic Radical Nationalism, author Benjamin Teitelbaum explores this transformation of anti-immigrant, anti-liberal activism in the Nordic countries as it manifests in thought and sound. As his fieldwork in Sweden overlapped with Anders Behring Breivik's attacks in 2011, Teitelbaum observed the radical nationalist movement at a particularly sensitive moment. Offering a rare ethnographic glimpse into controversial and secretive politicalmovements, Lions of the North investigates changes in the music nationalists make and patronize, reading their surprising new music styles as attempts to escape stereotypes and fashion a new image for themselves. Teitelbaum's work reveals organized opposition to immigration and multiculturalism in Scandinavia to be ascene in flux, populated by individuals with diverse understandings of themselves, their cause, and the significance of music. Ultimately, he uncovers the ways in which nationalists use music to frame themselves as agents of justice, an image that is helping to propel these actors to unprecedented success in societies often considered the most tolerant in the world. A timely and powerful work of interdisciplinary ethnomusicology, Lions of the North will appeal to a wide audience, from scholarsin the humanities to those in political science.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.