Book Reviews and Book Notes This section provides review coverage of recent contributions to research into various aspects of ‘extremism and democracy’. We include shorter book notes (150-300 words) and as well as more substantial reviews (600-900 words) of books that are of particular interest to group members. In addition to providing a broad range of reviews the team also welcome suggestions for future book reviews (including your own) or ideas for review symposia. If you would like to review one of the currently available titles (below) please contact Sarah de Lange (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute and University of Amsterdam, email:sarah.delange@eui.eu and s.l.delange@uva.nl). The current issue of eExtreme contains reviews of the books listed below. Please click on the title of the book to directly navigate to the book review you are interested in. Kathleen B. Blee, Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s, New Edition, University of California Press, 2009, xiv+228 pp., ISBN: 978-0-520-25787-0. Jennifer S. Holmes, Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres, and Kevin M. Curtin. Guns, Drugs and Development in Colombia, University of Texas Press, 2008, 206 pp., ISBN: 978-0-292-71871-5. Diego Muro, Ethnicity and Violence. The Case of Radical Basque Nationalism, Routledge, 2008, 264 pp., ISBN: 978-0-415-39066.
Kathleen B. Blee, Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s, New Edition, University of California Press, 2009, xiv+228 pp., ISBN: 978-0-520-25787-0.
Reviewed by James Rhodes (Leeds University)
Kathleen Blee, distinguished professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, first published Women of the Klan in 1991. The book, since cited as one of its most distinguished publications by University of California Press, has been reprinted with a new preface. The book provides a social history of the Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK) during the 1920s, using a rich data set drawn from newspaper archives, party records, and interviews with women who participated in the movement during this era. This reissue is timely in light of the resurgence of extreme-right political organizations in recent decades, particularly in Western Europe.
The primary aim of the text is to provide an historical account of women’s involvement in the Klan. This is something that has been neglected within existing work on the movement. It provides a gendered history of the emergence of the WKKK and its relationship to the maledominated KKK. Using archival and interview data, Blee offers an insightful and valuable account that captures the role that women played within the movement and some of the tensions that were raised both in relation to the participation of women in the organization and the demands for women’s rights. The book is divided into two parts; the first part charts the emergence of the second incarnation of the KKK in the 1920s, examining how it differs from the more overtly violent 1880s movement. Blee also examines the relationship between the Klan and the developing role of women in US society, particularly within the sphere of political action as suffrage was extended. The second part draws upon case study material of the WKKK in Indiana to give a fascinating view of women’s lives in the Klan and the cultural politics of the movement. This latter issue is an area that is often overlooked in contemporary analyses of extremist movement, and it is something that Blee captures particularly well. A number of key themes underpin the text and provide the work with its continuing relevance and academic value. Importantly, Blee brings to light the role that women played in the functions of the KKK and in the emergence of the WKKK in the 1920s. The sheer scale of the number of women involved is remarkable. During the 1920s it is estimated that approximately 500,000 women joined the KKK, constituting nearly half of the organization’s membership in some states (p.2). By providing a gendered history of the movement during this period, Blee is able to give new insights into the Klan as a whole. Gender divisions meant that not only did women perform different roles within the organization but also held an assertive ideology predicated on advancing women’s rights, which Klansmen attempted to co-opt and manage in order to advance the pragmatic aims of the KKK. For instance, the Klan drew heavily on women’s familial, social, and community links in order to extend the appeal of the movement and to embed it more fully into the fabric of the everyday lives of white Protestants. Women also served to enhance the legitimacy of the movement and to negate from the representations of the Klan as a purely violent, terrorist organization. For Blee, the extent of the involvement of women within the KKK serves to challenge existing conceptions of extremism that often view it as primarily, if not exclusively, a male domain. She also points to how stereotypical assertions regarding Klan members, “as ignorant, simplistic, brutal, and naive-is historically and politically misleading” (p.7). Rather Blee’s analysis of the WKKK demonstrates, “the ease with which racism and intolerance appealed to ordinary people in ordinary places” (ibid). For Blee, the development of the WKKK in the 1920s reveals a number of tensions that existed within the Klan itself. In its earlier incarnation during the 1880s, the KKK was an overtly masculine organization that sought to defend the sanctity of the white, American protestant woman. The figure of the vulnerable female was used to justify the violence and brutality of the Klansmen, reinforcing gendered stereotypes drawing on symbols of “violent white masculinity and vulnerable white femininity” (p.12). The ‘threat’ of racial difference was linked to the sexual violation of the white woman. While women were excluded from participation in the first Klan, the extension of suffrage meant that when the Klan re-emerged in the 1920s the involvement women were seen as more important to the advancement of the movement. This was in part due to the increasing political participation of women within temperance and suffrage organizations. In order to attract women, the KKK presented itself as a champion of women’s rights. The
symbol of the woman as the mother and reproducer of the white ‘race’ gained prominence. However, for Klansmen the contradiction was that they saw the political participation of women as compromising their femininity, and as a threat to the male hegemony of the KKK. The solution was to ensure, “the political acquiescence of Klanswomen in the political agenda of Klansmen” (p.31). While the WKKK emerged as a powerful organization in its own right, Blee observes how for the KKK it remained simply an ‘auxiliary’. Blee recognizes not only these tensions around gender, but also the contradictions evident in the beliefs of the women themselves. Blee observes how, “Klanswomen embraced the KKK’s racist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic agenda and symbols of American womanhood but they used these to argue as well for equality for white Protestant women” (p.35). This is an extremely important point as Blee argues that it makes it difficult to identify the position of Klanswomen on a left-right political spectrum, as progressive attitudes towards women’s rights were combined with nativist sentiments within a movement that continued to portray of women as vulnerable and weak. She suggests that this demonstrates why, “we must examine the multiple, even contradictory levels on which reactionary movements seek to attract ordinary people into extremist politics” (p.4). In this sense there is a need to recognize the diverse constituents and the heterogeneity of interests and motivations that co-exist within political movements such as the Klan. Another key theme explored is the issue of the cultural politics of the Klan. Avoiding the tendency to confine extremism to the margins of society, Blee locates the support for the Klan during the 1920s within the broader social, cultural and political context. For Blee, with the exception of violence, the Klan’s emphasis on separatism and white supremacy resonated in a white protestant society produced and governed through these norms. In this sense, particularly in Indiana as Blee demonstrates, the Klan was able to insinuate itself into the fabric and everyday existence of white protestant society; “the Klan nested within the institutions and assumptions of ordinary life of many in the majority population” (p.154). This appeal resonated particularly strongly with women. This is revealed by the fact that in the 1920s an estimated 32 per cent of the white native-born female population in Indiana belonged to the WKKK (p.125). Not only did the movement provide women with an outlet for political participation and action it also provided an active social life and offered “a sense of belonging and collective importance” (p.128). This ability to connect with the everyday meant that the Klan was able to convert everyday racist and nativist sentiments into a basis for political action. Blee’s analysis of women in the KKK remains a seminal text in the field of extremism, racism, and political mobilization. Its ability to recognize the heterogeneity of the Klan during the 1920s, and to consider more fully the role of women and the complex way in which issues of gender, racism, and political participation interact grants this text a significant value for scholars in this area of inquiry. Blee’s attention to the importance of context, cultural politics, as well as internal contradictions possesses a dynamism that many other studies of extreme right movements lack, serving to challenge many of the persisting stereotypes of extremism and extremists.
Jennifer S. Holmes, Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres, and Kevin M. Curtin. Guns, Drugs and Development in Colombia, University of Texas Press, 2008, 206 pp., ISBN: 978-0-29271871-5.
Reviewed by John C. Dugas (Kalamazoo College)
Colombia’s endemic and multifaceted violence has long been an object of interest to academics, policymakers, and activists. Despite a surprisingly stable political regime and an increasingly dynamic economy, the country continues to be plagued by a combination of forms of violence emanating from paramilitary groups, guerrilla movements, state security forces, drug trafficking organizations, and common delinquents. Among the more recent books to grapple with this complex situation is Guns, Drugs, and Development in Colombia (University of Texas, 2008), written by Jennifer S. Holmes, Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres, and Kevin M. Curtin. In principle, this volume would appear to hold promise as a multidisciplinary and methodologically innovative study of the Colombian quagmire: The three authors are, respectively, a political scientist, an economist, and a geographer, and they utilize departmentlevel data to try to elucidate the relations between political violence, the drug trade, and economic development in Colombia. In practice, unfortunately, the book disappoints more often than it succeeds. The principle weaknesses of this volume are the absence of any overarching thesis, the limited scope of its original research, the dated nature of its empirical evidence, and the all too frequent errors that plague the book. To begin, the authors have no clear focus and no clear thesis. The scattered nature of their analysis is revealed in the first chapter as the authors proclaim: “[W]e attempt to answer the following questions: What is the role of Colombian geography and political development in the conflict? Who are the main violent actors? What is the most appropriate unit of analysis for examining the Colombian conflict and economy? What factors facilitate different types of violence? How do violence and the drug trade affect the economy? What general lessons can a study of Colombia provide other countries facing entrenched and seemingly intractable conflicts?” (p. 6). While the authors do address each of these questions, ultimately the sum of their piecemeal analyses is less than the parts. Indeed, the reader is likely to be struck by how completely disconnected each chapter is from the others. Most could stand alone as single essays on different aspects of Colombia, having little clear relation to the others. Moreover, with the notable exception of chapters five, six, and seven, there is little new research here. The first chapters are almost entirely based upon secondary research, providing overviews of Colombian history, geography, economic development, and major violent actors. Scholars familiar with Colombia will learn little, and more likely find themselves irritated by factual errors (more on that below).
The unique contribution of this volume is contained almost wholly in chapters six and seven, where the authors present sub-national data on Colombian violence, drug production, and economic development based upon the country’s basic political division, the department. In these two chapters, the authors develop and test fifteen hypotheses, centering upon factors that influence the emergence and the level of guerrilla and paramilitary violence, the degree to which guerrilla and paramilitary violence impact the economy, and the influence of coca production on the local economy. The results are generally as expected (e.g., poverty has strong links to guerrilla violence; coca cultivation is associated with both guerrilla and paramilitary violence). The most interesting and counterintuitive finding is the absence of any direct effect of drugs or violence on the local economy, although the authors make the case that indirect effects are likely. Perhaps the most disappointing part of this original analysis is that the data set is limited to the years 1990-2001. The authors never make clear why this time period is the unit of analysis, whether it is an appropriate or representative time period, and why earlier or more recent data was not incorporated, especially since the book was published in 2008 when more recent data was clearly available. Scholars of Colombia will also find themselves frustrated by errors indicating a lack of in-depth familiarity with the country. For example, they will shake their heads in amazement at a statement describing La Violencia as “a bloody ten-year civil war in which the Liberals and Conservatives fought against the National Front” (p. 9), or the description of Pedro Antonio Marín and Manuel Marulanda Vélez as two separate founders of the FARC (these were the given name and the nom de guerre of the same individual!) (p. 53). Moreover, some of the analysis is simply sloppy. For example, in explaining the relationship between FARC violence and state security spending during the 1999-2001 period, the authors write that “this may reflect efforts by President Uribe to increase state presence and security spending in areas of guerrilla activity” (91). The absurdity of this explanation is apparent since Uribe did not even assume the office of president until August 2002! Despite the many frustrating aspects of this book, the authors conclude with a chapter that sets forth four reasonable “cornerstones” that could lead to a resolution of the Colombian conflict: strengthening state security forces, increasing state capacity to deliver government services, maintaining an inclusive political community, and instituting economic reform to help pay for stronger state security forces as well as to alleviate poverty and inequality. They correctly condemn the human rights violations perpetrated by the state security forces, and they conclude their book with some valid words of wisdom: “The greatest threat to progress is impatience, which increases the temptation to emphasize one aspect of a strategy in the short term. Lopsided efforts will not bring long-term success and may undermine the chances of achieving a comprehensive peace. Advancement in one area does not eclipse the need to progress in others” (p. 160).
Diego Muro, Ethnicity and Violence. The Case of Radical Basque Nationalism, Routledge, 2008, 264 pp., ISBN: 978-0-415-39066.
Reviewed by AndrĂŠ Lecours (Concordia University)
This is a very good book on radical Basque nationalism. It argues that the rationale for violence in the Basque Country is the strengthening of Basque ethnicity and of the radical Basque nationalist community. This is a convincing, although not a novel, argument. The book begins by tracing the emergence of Basque nationalism and, later on, of ETA. These chapters are richer in information than those of other books on Basque nationalism that cover this same period. The best chapters of the book, however, are the last three that analyze contemporary political dynamics (1975-2006). In those chapters, the author provides a lot of insight into ETA and the network of radical Basque nationalist organizations known as the Basque Movement of National Liberation, including their recent decline. Overall, this is a very nice book, well-researched, welldocumented and well-written, coming out of what must have been quite a good doctoral dissertation.