NORFAS aims to study continuity and change in fascist theory and practice in the Nordic region over the past 100 years, a century where radical nationalists continuously collaborated across national borders.
In Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, these players often unified around the idea of the Nordic countries’ unique position – the Nordic race, the Nordic people, the Nordic culture, the Nordic spirit – which frequently took aim at the formation of a Nordic state. The transnational nature of this fascism has not previously been studied in the Nordic region or internationally. NORFAS is therefore contributing to the international research front by raising the perspective of Nordic fascism’s transnational and intertwined history, which generates new knowledge about fascism’s enduring power and the challenge it poses for democracy and human rights.
NORFAS’s efforts have been underway for some time, with internal seminars held in Uppsala, Oslo and Helsinki. The network has received research startup funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond to continue its efforts, in part through more seminars in the Nordic countries and an anthology on Nordic fascism published by Routledge.
Via the University of Gothenburg’s Segerstedt Institute, the NORFAS-affiliated researchers have been asked by the Nordic Council of Ministers to contribute to a report on the status of research into Nordic fascism past and present, and to identify gaps in our knowledge and potential future research perspectives.