The Psychosocial Imaginaries of Defence Nationalism : Far-Right Extremism in Australia and the UK

The Psychosocial Imaginaries of Defence Nationalism interrogates the emergence of far-right nationalist 'defence leagues' in Australia and the UK. Throughout the book, Liam Gillespie refers to these groups as defence nationalists: that is, as nationalists who imagine themselves as defenders of the nation and therefore national subjects par excellence. Drawing on original research, psychoanalytic and psychosocial theory--and particularly the work of Jacques Lacan--the author explores the narratives, imaginaries and subjectivities that sustain these groups, as well as the narratives, imaginaries and subjectivities these groups sustain. He argues that unlike other nationalist groups, defence nationalists are not primarily concerned with realising their avowed political projects. Instead, they are concerned with constructing and then enjoying themselves as the nation's self-ordained defenders. This means that which threatens the nation can paradoxically have a fortifying effect upon defence nationalists, legitimising and securing both the way they see themselves, and the position they see themselves occupying with/in the nation. The Psychosocial Imaginaries of Defence Nationalism will be of interest to anyone concerned with critical theorisations of contemporary nationalism, as well as with the application of psychoanalytic and psychosocial theory to social, cultural and political analysis. Liam Gillespie holds a Ph. D. from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia.-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgements Praise for The Psychosocial Imaginaries of Defence Nationalism Contents List of Images 1 Scenes of Violence Scene One: “When the Sands Ran Red” Celebrating Cronulla Scene Two: “Taking Back Our Streets” The English Defence League The Australian Defence League Defence Nationalism: Initial Impressions Bodies That (E)Merge: The Ins and Outs of Defence Nationalism Chapter Progression Methodology Bibliography 2 Ironic Indigeneity Subjects Adrift: Of Surfers and Surfaces The Law of the Land: Right of Wave Ironic Indigeneity as ‘Telling’ Sensory Others and Outposts National Embodiments of Everyday and Event Confrontations on Shifting Sands I Am, Therefore I Can Bibliography 3 The Laws of Inclusion and Exclusion Introduction: Our Law, Their Law Invocations of the One (De)Limitations of Law Subjects Before the Law Corpus Capitalis Law and the Other The Mandate of Law Bibliography 4 In hoc signo vinces [In This Sign You Will Conquer] In This Body You Will Defend Specular Re-imag(in)ing: Lacan and the Mirror Stage Empty Promises: The Revulsion to Repeat Innervating Innovation Bibliography 5 The Body as Real—Nostalgia Without Memory Fantasies of Risk and the Risk Society Nostalgia Without Memory The Production of Exosomatic Memory Through Care Symbolic Castration: Unwanted Returns Empty Nostalgia Bibliography 6 Violent (Con)Fusions of the Body Racisms of Mind and Body Resurrecting Pieces The Address of the Gaze Bibliography 7 Imagined Immunity The Imagined Communion Fantasies of Dominance Remembering as Re-Membering The Autoimmunity of Paranoid Nationalism A Body of Anti-Bodies Bibilography 8 Sovereign Bodies Unto Themselves Bibliography Bibliography Index