Skinheads emerged as a countercultural movement in England in 1967.
Emergence of the Skinhead subculture
The history of the subculture called skinhead is intertwined with the large number of countercultural movements that emerged between the 1960s and 1970s in the United Kingdom. Although today they are commonly associated with neo-Nazi and far-right movements, skinheads have a huge number of representations of different ideologies and political positions.
The first signs of the appearance of skinheads began to be seen in 1967 in English cities. It all started in response to the also growing “hippie” movement, which was emerging among the middle class and spreading across the world. The skins, as they were also popularly known, were young working class people who started to identify themselves with certain aspects of Jamaican culture brought by Afro-Caribbean immigrants arriving in England. The skin culture was being built through music, such as reggae and ska, various dress and ideologies that each group adopted. The shaved hair, well-kept shoes and well-ironed clothes that the first skinheads adopted contrasted with the carefree and relaxed image of hippies, which was seen by skins as an effeminate image.
The movement initially had no claim to racial segregation between black and white people. However, from the 1970s onwards, the economic crisis that intensified in the United Kingdom began to weaken relations with immigrants. While Pakistanis, for example, were beginning to arrive in large numbers, the number of jobs was decreasing and competition was increasing.
This context led to the emergence of dissident groups from the original movement, which now carried the flag of hatred for immigrants , especially in relation to those who came from Pakistan. Violence against immigrants was growing, and the incidents were generally linked to extreme right groups, that is, those who defended or defend conservative ideas, such as maintaining the social hierarchy, are against the notion of egalitarianism and defenders of the idea that groups who believe they are superior must, by right, dominate and exploit the groups seen as inferior. The far-right ideals are also linked to ultranationalism and fascism , another extremist ideology that believes that the authoritarian domination of a stateand military discipline applied to society are the only legitimate forms of government for a nation. Some groups that can be used as examples of this type of ideology are the “British Movement” and the “National Front”, which, at that time, gained strength in numbers and in the aggressions aimed at Pakistani immigrants and even Jamaicans, who had been part of fundamental in the foundation of the first skinheads.
Don’t stop now … There’s more after the publicity;)
Skinheads in the Americas
In the 1980s, the skin culture crossed the seas and gained territory among the youth in the United States. Initially spreading through the underworld of punk culture , far-right skinheads began to gain notoriety in their acts of vandalism and violence practiced against Latin, Jewish, homosexual and black immigrants. The group that had started out as a multi-ethnic group has now become known for the Nazifascist context of far-right groups, which were increasingly gaining prominence in the media.
Although skinheads are more associated with Nazi ideology , which is the culmination of the far-right ideals that we saw above, it is important to note that there were and are several aspects of the skin style. The ” Redskins ” are an example of a skin group that adopts a position completely antagonistic to that of the infamous ” Naziskins “. Already the ” Trad skins ” are the group that still identifies with the traditional view of the skinhead movement, when reggae, ska and Jamaican influences were strong.
In Brazil, the movement exists, but it never gained strength like the groups that existed in the United States and England. Brazilian skinhead groups are generally linked to extreme right and neo – Nazi ideologies . There is also a strong feud between members of the punk movement and the “Naziskins”, due to the strong libertarian ideology that exists in the punk milieu.
