ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the politics of the English Defence League (EDL). The attitudes, goals and orientation of the EDL reflect the strange ideological contradictions of the contemporary political Right. Its members are drawn overwhelmingly from Britain's old white working class. Some have found their way to the movement through the field of organised football violence. Others are veterans of right-wing campaign groups such as National Front and the British National Party. The specific traditional culture the EDL prizes and seeks to defend is not open to everyone. Like all traditional cultures, it is exclusive and only becomes 'real' for those who fully commit to its structures, rules and obligations. Freud (2001) famously identified the basic distinction between mourning and melancholy. The melancholic remains pathologically attached to the lost object. However, nature of the EDL's discourse bears witness to the failure of the Left to engage with working class, symbolise its frustrations and capitalise revolutionary potential that exists in marginalised neighbourhoods.
