Mattias Gardell

{{Infobox academic

| name = Mattias Gardell

| image = Gardell4.JPG

| image_upright = 1.2

| caption = Mattias Gardell in 2010

| birth_name = Mattias Gardell

| birth_date = {{birth date |1959|8|10|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Solna, Sweden

| education = PhD (Stockholm University)

| thesis_title = Countdown to Armageddon: Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in the Latter Days

| thesis_year = 1995

| discipline = Historian

}}

Hans Bertil Mattias Gardell (born 10 August 1959) is a Swedish historian and scholar of comparative religion. In March 2006 he was appointed of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University, Sweden. He received the Lenin Award in 2009.

Early life and education

Mattias Gardell was born in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden. He dropped out of high school and lived many years later as a researcher among black and white racist representatives in the United States.{{cite news |first=Pontus |last=Ohlin |title=Anarkist, hedning och professor |url=http://www.varbostad.se/ArticlePages/200603/20/20060320155828_vb553/20060320155828_vb553.dbp.asp |publisher=Vår bostad |date=3 April 2006 |accessdate=2008-11-11 |language=Swedish |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523164442/http://www.varbostad.se/ArticlePages/200603/20/20060320155828_vb553/20060320155828_vb553.dbp.asp |archivedate=2006-05-23}}

He earned a PhD in the history of religions at Stockholm University in 1995. His 1995 dissertation on Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam was published in both British and American editions.

Career

Gardell specialized in the study of religious extremism and religious racism in the United States, studying groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Nation of Islam, and folkish movements in Neopaganism (Odinism).{{Cite news |date=2001-03-21 |title=Swedish Academic Mattias Gardell Discusses the Rise of Neo-Paganism in America |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2001/swedish-academic-mattias-gardell-discusses-rise-neo-paganism-america |access-date=2024-08-08 |language=en |archive-date=21 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121173723/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2001/swedish-academic-mattias-gardell-discusses-rise-neo-paganism-america |url-status=live }}

From 2004 to 2006 he lived in Cairo, Egypt, studying the rise of political Islam. In March 2006, he returned to Sweden and was appointed the first holder (from 1 July 2006) of the Nathan Söderblom Chair of Comparative Religion at Uppsala University.{{cite press release|title=Mattias Gardell ny professor i jämförande religionsvetenskap |url=http://info.uu.se/press.nsf/pm/mattias.gardell.id9C5.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060430095736/http://info.uu.se/press.nsf/pm/mattias.gardell.id9C5.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 April 2006 |publisher=Uppsala University |date=8 March 2006 |accessdate=2008-11-10 |language=Swedish}} He received the Lenin Award in 2009.

In 2010, Gardell was one of eleven Swedish activists from Ship to Gaza participating in the flotilla that tried to break the Israeli Blockade of the Gaza Strip. Along with his wife, Edda Manga, Gardell was aboard MV Mavi Marmara during the Israeli armed forces raid on the flotilla on the morning of 31 May 2010. He was deported from Israel and landed in Sweden on 3 June 2010 along with Manga and other Swedish participants.{{Cite episode | title = Alla svenskar från Gazakonvojen hemma igen | url = http://sverigesradio.se/sida/gruppsida.aspx?programid=83&grupp=11418&artikel=3753332 | series = Ekot | network = Sveriges Radio | station = P1 | airdate = 2010-06-03 | access-date = 5 June 2010 | archive-date = 6 June 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100606021206/http://sverigesradio.se/sida/gruppsida.aspx?programid=83&grupp=11418&artikel=3753332 | url-status = live }} He told Swedish journalists "We were victims of a massive military assault ... It can not be described as anything but piracy." He also stated that the soldiers came on board with fully loaded weapons equipped with laser sights and at least four people were killed execution style.{{cite news |author=Bitte Hammargren |url=http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/det-var-rena-avrattningar_4811317.svd |title=SvD: "Det var rena avrättningar" |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |language=sv |publisher=Svd.se |date=3 June 2010 |accessdate=2010-06-05 |archive-date=5 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605040408/http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/det-var-rena-avrattningar_4811317.svd |url-status=live }}

In 2012, he testified as an expert witness on Islamophobia in the trial of Anders Behring Breivik{{cite web|url=http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/22-juli/rettssaken/artikkel.php?artid=10065879|title=Skal alle med Breiviks tanker innlegges, må dere bygge en stor anstalt|date=4 June 2012|website=Vg.no|accessdate=2017-01-05|archive-date=30 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330053423/https://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/22-juli/rettssaken/artikkel.php%3Fartid%3D10065879|url-status=live}} In 2018, he co-authored the "Sweden"-section of the European Islamophobia Report 2017 published by the Erdogan controlled think-tank SETA.{{Cite book|url=https://setav.org/en/assets/uploads/2018/04/EIR_2017.pdf|title=European Islamophobia Report 2017|publisher=SETA|year=2018|isbn=9789752459618|location=Ankara|pages=617|access-date=16 April 2018|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417024215/https://setav.org/en/assets/uploads/2018/04/EIR_2017.pdf|url-status=live}} In a 2015 interview Gardell stated that individuals who commit acts of Islamic terrorism for Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have "no previous contacts with Islam" and "have no connections to any mosque" but instead have radicalized online.{{Cite web|date=2015-01-08|title=Videointervjuer|url=https://www.antirasistiskaakademin.se/intervjuserie/|access-date=2020-09-06|website=ArA - Antirasistiska Akademin|language=sv-SE|archive-date=17 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217015333/https://www.antirasistiskaakademin.se/intervjuserie|url-status=live}}

Personal life

File:Mattias Gardell 2013.jpg, speaking during a protest against Barack Obama's visit to Sweden.]]

As of 2006, Gardell had nine children, six of his own and three "bonus children".

As of 2023, he is married to Edda Manga.{{cite news |first=Erik |last=Högström |title=Gardell ombord på bordat fartyg |url=http://www.expressen.se/Nyheter/1.2006940/gardell-ombord-pa-bordat-fartyg |publisher=Expressen |date=2010-05-31 |accessdate=2010-05-31 |language=Swedish |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603024624/http://www.expressen.se/Nyheter/1.2006940/gardell-ombord-pa-bordat-fartyg |archive-date=2010-06-03 |url-status=dead}}[https://www.uu.se/en/staff/news/archive/2023-02-10-literature-on-the-brain Uppsala University website, Literature on the brain, article dated 2 October 2023]

He has said that he feels an attachment to Asatru and has practiced it "in waves", but as of 2007 did not practice it actively.{{Cite web|url = https://fof.se/tidning/2007/2/mot-mattias-gardell-hedningen-som-forsvarar-politisk-islam|title = Möt Mattias Gardell - Hedningen som försvarar politisk islam|date = March 2007|access-date = 31 March 2018|archive-date = 24 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210124064009/https://fof.se/tidning/2007/2/mot-mattias-gardell-hedningen-som-forsvarar-politisk-islam|url-status = live}} In 2007 he considered himself pagan and has called himself a "spiritual anarchist".{{cite web |url=http://fof.se/tidning/2007/2/mot-mattias-gardell-hedningen-som-forsvarar-politisk-islam |title=Möt Mattias Gardell - Hedningen som försvarar politisk islam | Forskning & Framsteg |language=sv |website=Fof.se |date=March 2007 |accessdate=2017-01-05 |archive-date=12 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112051228/http://fof.se/tidning/2007/2/mot-mattias-gardell-hedningen-som-forsvarar-politisk-islam |url-status=live }} Gardell is a libertarian socialist and a known human rights defender.

Awards

Lenin Award 2009{{Cite web |date=2009 |title=Mattias Gardell |url=http://www.leninpriset.se/pristagare/mattias-gardell-2/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=Leninpriset (Lenin Award) |language=en-US |archive-date=3 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303103949/http://www.leninpriset.se/pristagare/mattias-gardell-2/ |url-status=live }}

Bibliography

{{cite book |title=Countdown to Armageddon: Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in the Latter Days |year=1995 |publisher=Stockholm University |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7153-370-2}} (dissertation)
{{cite book |title=In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam |year=1996 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham |isbn=0-8223-1852-0}}
{{cite book |title=Rasrisk: rasister, separatister och amerikanska kulturkonflikter |year=1998 |publisher=Federativ |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-86474-22-7 |language=Swedish}}
{{cite book |title=Gods of the Blood: The Pagan Revival and White Separatism |year=2003 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham |isbn=0-8223-3059-8}}
{{cite book |title=Bin Ladin i våra hjärtan: globaliseringen och framväxten av politisk islam |year=2005 |publisher=Leopard |location=Stockholm |isbn=91-7343-024-2 |language=Swedish}}
{{cite book |title=Tortyrens återkomst |year=2008 |publisher=Leopard |location=Stockholm |isbn=978-91-7343-171-2 |language=Swedish}}
{{cite book |title=Islamofobi |year=2010 |publisher=Leopard |location=Stockholm |isbn=978-91-7343-288-7 |language=Swedish}}
{{cite book |title=Raskrigaren: Seriemördaren Peter Mangs |year=2015 |publisher=Leopard förlag |language=sv |isbn=9789173433815}}{{cite web |url=http://www.leopardforlag.se/bok/raskrigaren/ |title=Raskrigaren – Leopard förlag |website=Leopardforlag.se |accessdate=2017-01-05 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817213638/http://www.leopardforlag.se/bok/raskrigaren/ |url-status=dead }}
{{cite book |title=Lone Wolf Race Warriors and White Genocide |year=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108609760 |isbn=978-1108711135 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/lone-wolf-race-warriors-and-white-genocide/DB743DBCB4CFCF9FEC510464F570550E |last1=Gardell |first1=Mattias }}