fascism 8 (2019) 275-306 brill.com/fasc Dreaming of a National Socialist World: The World Union of National Socialists (wuns) and the Recurring Vision of Transnational Neo-Nazism Paul Jackson Senior Lecturer in History, University of Northampton
[email protected] Abstract This article will survey the transnational dynamics of the World Union of National Socialists (wuns), from its foundation in 1962 to the present day. It will examine a wide range of materials generated by the organisation, including its foundational docu- ment, the Cotswolds Declaration, as well as membership application details, wuns bulletins, related magazines such as Stormtrooper, and its intellectual journals, Nation- al Socialist World and The National Socialist. By analysing material from affiliated organisations, it will also consider how the network was able to foster contrasting rela- tionships with sympathetic groups in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, al- lowing other leading neo-Nazis, such as Colin Jordan, to develop a wider role interna- tionally. The author argues that the neo-Nazi network reached its height in the mid to late 1960s, and also highlights how, in more recent times, the wuns has taken on a new role as an evocative ‘story’ in neo-Nazi history. This process of ‘accumulative extrem- ism’, inventing a new tradition within the neo-Nazi movement, is important to recog- nise, as it helps us understand the self-mythologizing nature of neo-Nazi and wider neo-fascist cultures. Therefore, despite failing in its ambitions of creating a Nazi- inspired new global order, the lasting significance of the wuns has been its ability to inspire newer transnational aspirations among neo-Nazis and neo-fascists.