Loud and proud

Book excerpt: This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC) open access license. Loud and proud is an ethnographic study of grassroots activists in the English Defence League (EDL). Setting the findings within contemporary debates on race and racism, Islamophobia, social movements and the far right, the author draws on interviews, informal conversations and extensive observation at EDL events to explore and explain the gap between the public image of the movement as a violent Islamophobic and racist organisation and individual activists' understanding of it as 'one big family'. Presenting them neither as duped by a charismatic leader nor working class anti-heroes, this book introduces EDL activists as individuals with real lives whose diverse trajectories in and out of activism are embedded in personal life stories. The book will be of value to those researching or studying in the disciplines of sociology, political science and anthropology as well as those with an interest in contemporary political issues and the populist and radical right.