Oct 2, 2024 - In Conversation with Spencer Sunshine (PhD, Sociology) about his new book, "Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s 'Siege'"

Please join us for a conversation with Spencer Sunshine (PhD, Sociology) for a presentation and discussion about his recent book, Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s Siege (Routledge, 2024).

Find more about Dr. Sunshine on his website here, and find the book at the Routledge website here.

From the Routledge website: "A new wave of aspiring neo-Nazi terrorists has arisen—including the infamous Atomwaffen Division. And they have a bible: James Mason’s Siege, which praises terrorism, serial killers, and Charles Manson. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism, based on years of archival work and interviews, documents for the first time the origins of Siege.

"First, it shows how Mason’s vision arose from debates by 1970s neo-Nazis who splintered off the American Nazi Party/National Socialist White People's Party and spun off a terrorist faction. Second, it unveils how four 1980s countercultural figures—musicians Boyd Rice and Michael Moynihan, Feral House publisher Adam Parfrey, and Satanist Nikolas Schreck—discovered, promoted, and published Mason. Neo-Nazi Terrorism and Countercultural Fascism explores a previously overlooked period and unearths the hidden connections between a countercultural clique and violent neo-Nazis—which together have set the template for today’s Neo-nazi terrorist underground.

"It is obligatory reading for those interested in contemporary terrorism, postwar countercultures, and the history of the U.S. Far Right and neo-Nazism."

Series organizers (alphabetical) are Amber Broaden (CSUSB and CSU Dominguez Hills, Psychology), Stan Futch (President, Westside Action Group), Michael German (Brennan Center for Justice), Robie Madrigal (Pfau Library), Dr. Jeremy Murray (CSUSB History), Matt Patino (Crafton Hills College Adjunct Faculty), Dr. Mary Texeira (CSUSB Sociology).  Click here to view previous panels in the Conversations on Race and Policing series (link).