White power groups on the increase: report
Sweden’s white power movement is in the midst of a transformation, according to a new report, which also found right-wing extremist organizations within the movement have been more active recently than in previous years.
The first annual report on the Swedish white power movement, presented on Wednesday by the Expo Foundation, found that 39 white power groups were active in Sweden in 2008, with 25 of the groups having been created in 2007 or 2008.
“This is a movement which saw an increase in activity in 2008,” Kenny Hjälte, one of the report’s authors, told the TT news agency.
The Expo Foundation, which publishes a magazine of the same name, was founded in 1995 with the express aim of mapping right-wing extremist and racist trends in Sweden.
The Expo report also found that 1,946 actions were carried out by white power groups during the year, roughly 800 more than the year before.
The most common activity was the dissemination of propaganda, followed by various types of demonstrations and lectures.
Almost all actions can be tied to one of four organizations: the National Socialist Front, which later become the People’s Front (Folkfronten); Info 14 and the associated network of Free Nationalists (Fria nationalister); the Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska motståndsrörelsen); and the Nordic Union, with its associated Resistance (Motstånd) network.
“The biggest apparent change are the activist groups of the type created by Info 14, for example, and which are the most dynamic independent groups we see today. It’s a new form of activism,” said Hjälte.
He said that 2009 has been marked by a fracturing within the white power scene.
“Previously they’ve had large National Day events which were cancelled this year and these organizations held their own events around the country,” said Hjälte.
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The first annual report on the Swedish white power movement, presented on Wednesday by the Expo Foundation, found that 39 white power groups were active in Sweden in 2008, with 25 of the groups having been created in 2007 or 2008.
“This is a movement which saw an increase in activity in 2008,” Kenny Hjälte, one of the report’s authors, told the TT news agency.
The Expo Foundation, which publishes a magazine of the same name, was founded in 1995 with the express aim of mapping right-wing extremist and racist trends in Sweden.
The Expo report also found that 1,946 actions were carried out by white power groups during the year, roughly 800 more than the year before.
The most common activity was the dissemination of propaganda, followed by various types of demonstrations and lectures.
Almost all actions can be tied to one of four organizations: the National Socialist Front, which later become the People’s Front (Folkfronten); Info 14 and the associated network of Free Nationalists (Fria nationalister); the Swedish Resistance Movement (Svenska motståndsrörelsen); and the Nordic Union, with its associated Resistance (Motstånd) network.
“The biggest apparent change are the activist groups of the type created by Info 14, for example, and which are the most dynamic independent groups we see today. It’s a new form of activism,” said Hjälte.
He said that 2009 has been marked by a fracturing within the white power scene.
“Previously they’ve had large National Day events which were cancelled this year and these organizations held their own events around the country,” said Hjälte.
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