Graham Macklin is a Researcher at the Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX) at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published extensively on extreme right-wing and anti-minority politics in Britain, Europe and North America, in both the inter-war and post-war periods. Macklin is an associate editor of Patterns of Prejudice and co-edits the ‘Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right’ book series. His current research focusses upon extreme right-wing transnational networks, intellectual milieus, street mobilizations and terrorism. His research has been funded by local, national, and international funding bodies. He is currently completing two book length projects, Extreme Right Terrorism in the Viral Video Age (Routledge 2025), and a study of transnational anticommunist networks in the interwar period.
- ‘Evaluating “Transnationalism” as an Analytical Lens for Understanding REMVE terrorism,’ CTC Sentinel – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, vol. 17, no. 11, December 2024.
- ‘Transnational activism on the far right: The case of the BNP and the NPD,’ West European Politics, vol. 36,
no. 1, 2013, pp. 176-198. - Failed Führers: A History of Britain’s Extreme Right (Routledge: Abingdon 2020).
From “Britain First” to “Europe-a-Nation”: Sir Oswald Mosley as Transnational Activist
The paper will discuss the transnational career of Sir Oswald Mosley, erstwhile leader of the British Union of Fascists, as he sought to resurrect his fascist project after 1945. The paper will examine the continuity and change in his thinking from his “Britain First” position during the 1930s to his ideas about “Europe-a-Nation” which he first elaborated in The Alternative in 1947. This pan-European idea remained the fulcrum of Mosley’s thought until his death in 1980. Mosley was not alone in elaborating such an idea – which he characterised as being “Beyond Fascism and Democracy” – but he was one of its leading exponents. Indeed he paid a great deal of attention to ensuring that his work was translated into other languages and circulated within the right milieus. Many of his ideas, particularly on race and culture, prefigured those of the French Nouvelle Droite, whose leading figures were familiar with his work and, in the case of Alain de Benoist, corresponded with him prior to the existence of GRECE. Moving beyond a one dimensional portrayal of Mosley as just a ideologue, however, the paper will situate Mosley as a transnational activist. Exploring Mosley’s contribution to the transnational making of the post-war extreme right in Europe, the paper will discuss the important role that Mosley and his minions, who were prolific travelers, played an important role in reconstituting European fascist networks through initiatives like the European Social Movement and the short lived National Party of Europe. As well as providing a source of intellectual stimulation, albeit one that was not without contestation or debate within the extreme right, Mosley also played a key role in refinancing the shattered remnants of the German extreme right, including a pivotal role in establishing its major post-war ideological organ, Nation Europa. Mosley’s role in the development of a variety of other social, cultural and political networks both inside and outside Europe will also be discussed in order to present a fuller picture of his contribution to post-war transnational extreme right history.