Martin Durham

Martin Durham (4 June 19512022) was a British political scientist and author. He was best known for his writings on both the British and American far-right political ecosystems. Durham was a lecturer at Coventry University from 1981 to 1984, going on to become lecturer, then senior lecturer of American studies and politics at the University of Wolverhampton from 1984 until his retirement in 2014. He wrote four monographs on political topics, including Sex and Politics, Women and Fascism (1998), and White Rage (2007).

Early life and education Durham was born in Plymouth, England on 4 June 1951. His father Russell Durham was a mechanic, while his mother Phyllis was a librarian. He attended Davenport high school. He was the first person in his family to attend higher education; Durham attended Birmingham Polytechnic, where he studied politics. The explosion sent debris into his face, which severed a nerve and cut part of his ear. The left side of his face was paralyzed in the attack and he was temporarily deafened. His friend was also injured. He had to undergo plastic surgery and was in the hospital for 13 days. He eventually became senior lecturer of politics and American studies there. He retired from his post in 2014. Durham wrote on political science and was interested in a variety of political topics, especially the far-right, but also the left-wing and feminist history and abortion. In one instance, his research got him visited by the police and his room searched. The police ultimately deemed him to not be a threat but rather an "an irrelevant bookworm". Sex and Politics took him six years to research. In 2000, his book The Christian Right, the Far Right and the Boundaries of American Conservatism was published by Manchester University Press. In 2007, his book White Rage: The Extreme Right and American Politics was published by Routledge. Personal life and death Durham met Stephanie West in the 1980s while employed as a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton. They fell out of contact, but met again in the 1990s, and married in 1995. They had two children.

Durham died in 2022, aged 70.