Esther Elizabeth (Effy) Adaire

Originally from London, UK, I am currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Cooper Union in New York City. I hold a Ph.D. in Modern European History from the CUNY Graduate Center, NY, for which my research focused on extreme-right networks in Germany following 1989. My dissertation, titled Neo-Nazi Postmodern, examined trends in extreme-right thought as well as the tactical and organizational evolution of neo-Nazi terror groups, demonstrating how an intellectual New Right gradually merged, from the 1990s onwards, with an underground extremist scene, producing the extreme-right as it exists in politics and in street-protest groups today. Related and peripheral research topics include Post-1989 European politics, memory and nostalgia in contemporary Russia and the former GDR, counter-terrorism strategies, and the history of right-wing and white supremacist paramilitary cells in the US.

I teach/have taught classes on Nazi Germany, Comparative Fascisms, The Making of Modern Society, Global Politics since 1989 and, most recently, Terrorism in the 20th and 21st Centuries. I have published articles and presented papers on neo-Nazi violence in the early years of German reunification, the erasure of East German memory, and instances of right-wing extremism in the German armed forces (see CV for more).

I also hold an MA (Distinction) in History as well as a BA (Honours) in Theatre & Performance, both from Goldsmiths, University of London.

Non-academic pursuits include photography, when inspiration strikes.