JOANNE THOMAS argues that unions’ political voice remains vital to winning stronger rights and protections for working people
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You get the Vikings you deserve
A new study on Viking genes won’t change our myths about them, because biology isn’t the answer and never has been, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and JOEL HELLEWELL
Eske Willerslev (seated), lead scientist on the Viking research paper, dressed up a Viking captive
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On May 4, the MML opens its doors to marchers and visitors alike, celebrating a living tradition of working-class struggle. MEIRIAN JUMP invites readers to come along and explore the building and its collections
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THE recent rise of far-right ideologies and white supremacists in Europe has been associated with their appropriation of Viking iconography — and the appeal of the Viking myth to white supremacists is easy to see.
The ubiquity of the image of the violent sea-warrior resonates with half-formed ideas that we all carry as somehow associated with white skin and blond hair, the “Scandinavian looks” that can act as a helpful euphemism to bolster investment in “whiteness” now that Aryanism has fallen out of fashion.
Association with Vikings can be rightly identified as a historically meaningless fairytale for racists. Scientific, archaeological and historical work continues to shed light on who “the Vikings” really were. Between 800 and 1000AD, a number of seafaring cultures in northern Europe were particularly dominant. Rather than being identified as a single group, the term refers to a number of different populations that were prominent in colonisation and warfare.
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