‘Tribe and train’: Examining Canada’s new model of white supremacist mobilization

 

‘White Nationalism 3.0’ is a modern strategy for white supremacist organizing. It promotes decentralized, local clubs that engage in fitness training, combat sports, and male bonding as gateways into extremist networking and activism. The term was coined in 2020 by Robert Rundo, an American neo-Nazi who gained notoriety for rioting and engaging in violence at several political rallies across the United States.  

White Nationalism 3.0 was framed as a new phase of organizing following the “1.0” racist Skinhead activism of the 1980s and the “2.0” era associated with the rise and fall of the “alt-right” in the 2010s. Groups adopting this new model are often referred to as ‘Active Clubs’ and have proliferated across Europe and North America. The White Nationalism 3.0 strategy is the operational blueprint for several white supremacist organizations in Canada including Second Sons and Nationalist-13, and individuals often use the slogan ‘Tribe and Train’ as shorthand to describe their approach.   

The fitness-oriented activities of these groups are not solely pursued as ends in themselves, but are instead means of achieving political objectives. As one leader of Second Sons stated during a 2025 livestream: “The reason you tribe and train is not about…the exercise. It’s not about the boxing. The reason that you engage in tribe and train is to practice organizing… If you can organize 100 guys to go for a hike… then you can organize 100 guys to go to a conference and you can organize 100 guys to go to a protest…that’s how we fucking win”.

The ideology of groups that have adopted White Nationalism 3.0 is rooted in the Great Replacement theory: the conspiratorial claim that white populations are being deliberately replaced by non-whites through a combination of immigration, procreation, and policy decisions.  

These groups are not monolithic. Active Clubs embrace a variety of worldviews, strategies and tactics to defend against what they perceive to be an existential threat to the white race. For example, Nationalist-13 and Second Sons – two key groups in Canada that have adopted the White Nationalism 3.0 model – differ in their messaging, branding, and aesthetics, with the former openly embracing neo-Nazism and the latter presenting a more sanitized image focused on shared Canadian heritage and white identity. Even within each group, individual members may hold differing views on ideology and strategy. 

Despite this heterogeneity, Active Clubs have been relatively successful in unifying actors across a previously fractured white supremacist movement. In Canada, groups have united individuals from influencer-oriented communities such as Diagolon, racist skinheads, and even designated terrorist entities like Atomwaffen Division and the Terrorgram Collective.  (more...)

‘Tribe and train’: Examining Canada’s new model of white supremacist mobilization