This paper examines how the longing for an idealised ancient past has been strategically weaponised within British far right political discourse. Through a diachronic analysis of the British Far Right publication the BNP’s Identity magazine, we can see that the academic version of the archaeological past provides a compelling, if repurposed, foundation for far-right agendas, especially around discussions of white British identity and belonging in the past and present. The analysis challenges assumptions of a blanket anti-expertise sentiment on the far-right. Instead, this paper will demonstrate how scientific data, including archaeological findings and ancient DNA studies, have been selectively assembled and manipulated in order to align with nostalgic nationalism and an imagined historical indigenous homeland. This process, aligning with Fortier’s (2011) concept of ‘genetic indigenisation’, leverages the presentation of archaeologically-flavoured nostalgia to foster a politics of culture and ethnic purity under threat.
Speaker Bio: Lorna Richardson is Lecturer in Digital Media and Cultures in the School of Media, Communications and Languages at the University of East Anglia. Her research explores the use and misuse of academic knowledge by non-experts, in fields as diverse as archaeology, far-right literature and women's health communities. She is particularly interested in the multitude of ways that digital society can lead to the repurposing of expert knowledge, and what that means for the development of alternative, deviant or discredited ideas.
Further Reading:
Richardson, L. J. (2025). ‘In Our Blood’: Archaeology and ‘Indigeneity’ in the British National Party’s Magazine Identity. Public Archaeology, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14655187.2025.2505375.
Pitt Rivers Museum Research Seminar in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology, Trinity Term 2026
Fridays, 12pm-1.30pm (Weeks 1-4)
In person at the Pitt Rivers Museum Lecture Theatre (entry via Robinson Close) except for Week 3, which will be in the Oxford University Natural History Museum Theatre.
Convened by Dr Ashley Coutu & Dr Brinn Hodgett.
