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Nigel Copsey

T:: 01642 384093
Job title:: Professor
E:: n.copsey@tees.ac.uk
School/department:: School of Arts & Media

Research institute:: Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts

About Nigel Copsey

Nigel Copsey
Professor, School of Arts & Media
T: 01642 384093
E: n.copsey@tees.ac.uk
Research institute: Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts

Professor Copsey’s field of expertise is historic and contemporary manifestations of fascism and anti-fascism.

He teaches modules on Italian Fascism, the Third Reich, Theories of Fascism, and British Fascism and Culture. He is Director of the Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts.

Read an interview with Professor Nigel Copsey

Research interests

Professor Copsey has a long-standing research interest in right-wing extremism, fascism and anti-fascism. He completed his PhD on right-wing extremism in contemporary France and Britain at the University of Portsmouth in 1995. His first monograph, Anti-Fascism in Britain (2000), examined the history of anti-fascism in Britain from the 1920s to the present day. In this volume Professor Copsey looked at the nature of anti-fascist activity, the political backgrounds of those involved and the impact of anti-fascism on the fortunes of Britain’s domestic extremists.

In 2004 Professor Copsey published his second monograph: Contemporary British Fascism: the British National Party and the Quest for Legitimacy, a study of the British National Party – in electoral terms, Britain’s most successful extreme-right party. A second revised and expanded edition of this book was published in both paperback and hardback in 2008.

His other books include British Fascism, the Labour Movement and the State, co-edited with Dr David Renton, published in 2005; Varieties of Anti-Fascism: Britain in the Inter-War Period, co-edited with Dr Andrzej Olechnowicz, published in 2010; and British National Party: Contemporary Perspectives, co-edited with Dr Graham Macklin, published in March 2011. Forthcoming projects include a co-edited volume on Cultures of Post War British Fascism, and new monograph entitled Re-thinking Britain's Far Right.

Professor Copsey welcomes potential PhD students in the field of extremist politics. Professor Copsey is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, and he serves on the editorial board of Fascism: Journal of Comparative Fascist Studies. He has been a reviewer for the ESRC and numerous international journals. His research has been disseminated in various media outlets including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Independent, The Tablet, and Christian Science Monitor. He also recently featured in a Finnish TV documentary on the European Defence Leagues.

Enterprise interests

Professor Copsey is interested in consultancy work on the far right. He has written a commissioned report on the English Defence League.

Publications

View Nigel Copsey's Publications on TeesRep

In the news

German spy agency stages exhibition to warn of far right
Reuters, Reuters India (Web), Yahoo Philippines News (Web), Malaysian Insider (Web), TheStar.com.my (Web), Reuters UK (Web), Yahoo! UK and Ireland (Web), Reuters (Web); 03/05/2013
Nigel Copsey, a professor in the far-right research centre of Britain's University of Teesside, said early intervention in a child's education can be effective but the message had to be reinforced at home by family and peers, and repeated often.
German spy agency stages exhibition to warn of far right
Sharenet (Web), Firstpost.com (Web), 03/05/2013
Nigel Copsey, a professor in the far-right research centre of Britain's University of Teesside, said early intervention in a child's education can be effective but the message had to be reinforced at home by family and peers, and repeated often.
Continuïteit fascisme en extreemrech
NRC Handelsblad, (Netherlands) 30/04/2013; FM4 (radio), (Austria) 27/04/2013
Professor Nigel Copsey and Dr Matthew Feldman comment on extreme fascism.
Shock report finds thousands of Teessiders struggle to speak English
Gazette Live (Web), 01/02/2013; Gazette Live (Web), 01/02/2013
Thousands of people living on Teesside struggle to speak English, it has emerged. Across Teesside, the percentage of people who do not speak English at all or not very well is 0.003% of the local population. Dr Nigel Copsey, reader in Modern History at Teesside University, said migration tends to follow work - hence higher figures for London.
Centre for Fascist Studies opens at Teeside University
TheNationalStudent (Web), 29/01/2013; Jewish Chronicle (Web) , 29/01/2013; Darlington & Stockton Times (Cleveland), 25/01/2013, p.5
The first research centre in the UK for fascist, anti-fascist and post-fascist studies is to open at Teesside University and was due to be formally launched at a Holocaust Memorial Day event. The centre will be led by historians Professor Nigel Copsey and Dr Mark Feldman. Dr Feldman, who is half-Jewish, said he felt it was important such a centre existed. Fascism left a very important mark on the 20th century.
Teesside University coverage
BBC Radio4, Sunday, 27/01/2013, 07:33:28
Teesside University is opening a centre for the study of right wing, fascist politics. A reader of contemporary history at Teesside University is interviewed.
New centre for studies on fascism
Shropshire Star (County), 18/01/2013, p.6; Shropshire Star (Shrewsbury), 18/01/2013, p.6
A centre dedicated to studying the extreme far right and anti-Muslim attacks has been established by a university. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies, launched by Teesside University, will look at the historical developments of far-right politics.
Holocaust memorial day
BBC Radio Tees, Mike Hill, 20/01/2013, 07:05:02, 08:03:37; BBC Radio Tees, Brigid and Dave, 20/01/2013, 10:02:56,
As Teesside University prepares to mark Holocaust memorial day with a special event, the University lifts the lid on its new centre dedicated to the exploration of far right politics. The centre will examine the historical development of far right politics.
University's new centre to study rise in anti-Islam far right
The Muslim Weekly, 18/01/2013, p.4; Research Fortnight, 16/01/2013, p.3
A British university established a dedicated centre to study the extremist far right, with a particular focus on the increase in violent anti-Islamic sentiment and the possibility of a lone, Anders Behring Breivik style attack. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies at Teesside University will be formally launched later this month at an event marking National Holocaust Memorial Day.
Ground-breaking new research unit at university
Darlington & Stockton Times (Cleveland), 18/01/2013, p.18; Darlington & Stockton Times (County Durham), 18/01/2013, p.18; BBC Radio Tees, Phil and Amy, 19/01/2013, 06:16:46
Teesside University is launching Britain's first research unit dedicated to the study of the far right and its opponents. The ground-breaking Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies -part of the School of Arts and Media will examine the historical development of far right politics and culture since its inception in the early 20th century.
Teesside University featured
Real Radio North East: Debbie Mac, 15:00:41; Hometime, 16:01:20, 16:32:09, 18:31:55, 17:02:30: 17/01/2013
A new department at Teesside University will looks at the history of fascism and far-right politics.
University to host one of country's largest Holocaust Memorial Day events
Darlington & Stockton Times (Web), 17/01/2013; Northern Echo (Web), 17/01/2013,
A centre dedicated to studying anti-Muslim attacks and the extreme far right has been established in Middlesbrough. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies, launched by Teesside University, will provide research into the historical developments of far right politics.
Fascist studies centre to open
Asian Image (Web), Peterlee Mail (Web), Berwick Advertiser (Web), Shields Gazette (Web), News Guardian (Web), Northumberland Gazette (Web), Jarrow & Hebburn Gazette (Web), Blyth and Wansbeck Today (Web), MSN UK (Web), 17/01/2013; FM4.Orf.at, 16/01/2013
A centre dedicated to studying the extreme far right and anti-Muslim attacks has been established by Teesside University. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies will look at the historical developments of far-right politics.
Fascist studies centre to open
Press Association, Press Association (Regional), Huffington Post UK (Blog), Sunderland Echo (Web), Wharfvalley (Web), Morpeth Herald (Web), Berwickshire News (Web), Hartlepool Mail (Web), 17/01/2013; Lancashire Evening Post, 18/01/2013, p.6
A centre dedicated to studying the extreme far right and anti-Muslim attacks has been established by Teesside University. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies will look at the historical developments of far-right politics.
University research on the right track
The Scotsman, 18/01/2013, p.10, The Scotsman (Web), 18/01/2013
A centre dedicated to studying anti-muslim attacks and the extreme far right has been established in middlesbrough. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies, launched by Teesside UniVersity, will provide research into the historical developments of farright politics.
University sets up body to study rise of far right
The Guardian, 14/01/2013, p.12; guardian.co.uk (Web), 13/01/2013; Philippine Times (Web), 13/01/2013; Islamophobia Watch (Blog), 13/01/2013; Education News (Web), 14/01/2013; Evening Gazette (Teesside), 15/01/2013, p.15
A British university has established a dedicated centre to study the extremist far right, with a particular focus on the increase in violent anti-Islamic sentiment and the possibility of a lone, Anders Behring Breivik style attack. The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies at Teesside University will be formally launched later this month at an event marking National Holocaust Memorial Day.
University opens far right centre
BBC (Web), 11/01/2013; Northern Echo (Web), 11/01/2013; Media Newswire (Web), 11/01/2013
Teesside University is to open a research centre dedicated to the study of the political far right and its opposition.
Far-right vacuum could trigger 'lone-wolf' attacks
The Independent, 29/12/2012, p.18; The Independent (Web), 29/12/2012; Islamophobia Watch (Blog), 29/12/2012; UK Nigeria Online (Web), 29/12/2012; Gulf Times (Qatar), 30/12/2012, p.16
Speaking to mark the launch of the new Centre for Fascist, Antifascist and Post-Fascist Studies at Teesside University, he said there was no room for complacency: "We ignore them at our peril because the demand for and the causes of the far right are still with us - they haven't gone away and in some cases are getting worse."