Normalizing cyberracism: a neutralization theory analysis

Vysotsky, Stanislav; McCarthy, Adrienne L.

doi:10.1080/0735648x.2015.1133314

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In addition to depictions of Odin, we found two other contradictory visuals: one photo that uses the word "evil" in reference to an ominous, yet unidentified threat; and a meme with a picture of a blonde-haired girl captioned "We need you to fight for our future" (Figure 5). The eschatological proclamations in these visuals are common among religiously-inspired extremist groups in the USA (Vysotsky and McCarthy, 2016;White, 2001); yet, no text appears on the social media page that signals an affinity with these groups. The symbolic meaning, however, is not lost as the visual images/memes serve as those "ambiguous participatory frameworks," where multiple stories are told (Ferrell et al, 2015;Jones, 2015).…”

Section: Odin's Ravensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vigilante or Viking? Contesting the mediated constructions of Soldiers of Odin Norge

Castle

Parsons

2017

Crime, Media, Culture

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In 2015, Europe experienced the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Along with terrorist attacks in Europe over the last decade, the refugee crisis has fueled a rise in the popularity of both far-right political parties and extremist groups—such as Finland’s Soldiers of Odin ( S.O.O.). The group debuted in late 2015, but quickly spread throughout Scandinavia. The popularity of S.O.O. coincided with a resurgent interest in Viking culture, and new country groups have been reported worldwide. This article explores the contested identity of the Norwegian chapter, Soldiers of Odin Norge ( S.O.O.N.), in national news (Norge) and networked spaces (social media). The mediated discourse was analyzed using ethnographic content analysis, with an appreciation for the intertextuality of the ambiguous political rhetoric. We found social media to be an important site for contesting the dominant narrative of ‘vigilante’ identified in the news articles. Drawing from cultural criminology, we further explored the contrast between mediated images, where Viking culture became the symbolic identifier for S.O.O.N., and the collective construction of meaning in the discourse. Finally, we argue that because the group’s identity was forged from, and exists because of, media-related communications, S.O.O.N. could be characterized as a ‘media-based collectivity’ (Couldry and Hepp, 2017).

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Section: Odin's Ravensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vigilante or Viking? Contesting the mediated constructions of Soldiers of Odin Norge

Castle

Parsons

2017

Crime, Media, Culture

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“…My research is situated within an expansive body of literature related to online supremacy and the relationship between mainstream and extremist discourses on race (Bliuc, Faulkner, Jakubowicz, & McGarty, 2018;Brown, 2009;Daniels, 2009;Hartzell, 2018;Meddaugh & Kay, 2009;Perry, 2000;Statzel, 2008;Vysotsky & McCarthy, 2017;Winter, 2019). In the context of 'New' and 'Colour-blind' racism -where expressing overt racist views is a considered a socially undesirable act -white supremacists seek to use 'free spaces' on the internet, where they can express their extremist views without the associated stigma (Adams & Roscigno, 2005;Bjork-James, 2015;Dentice & Williams, 2010;Simi & Futrell, 2006).…”

Section: Rightersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, estranged from socially desirable discourse, white supremacists increasingly made use of the frames of 'new racism' -that is, expressing racialised views without explicitly referring to race or skin colour -to shape the purpose and function of the movement (Brown, 2009;Dentice, 2018;Flores-Yeffal et al, 2011;Hartzell, 2018;Perry, 2000). For example, the users of Stormfront, an online white nationalist discussion forum, are not permitted to use racial epithets (Bjork-James, 2015; Daniels, 2009;Statzel, 2008;Vysotsky & McCarthy, 2017). In addition, prominent white supremacists, such as David Duke (former Grand High Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan), have repeatedly sought to align their views with what Bonilla-Silva (2017, p. 54) calls 'abstract liberalism', or an attempt to align racist sentiment with seemingly 'liberal' or 'left-leaning' rhetoric.…”

Section: Rightersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a surprising and perplexing turn of events, then, white supremacists -fuelled by an inherently racist identity -are, like many well-intentioned people, claiming to be 'non-racist' (Bjork-James, 2015; Statzel, 2008;Vysotsky & McCarthy, 2017). The use of this sentiment affords members of such racist movements security from stigma, whilst simultaneously facilitating recruitment of those who might otherwise be discouraged from joining a racist organisation (Dentice, 2018;Dentice & Williams, 2010).…”

Section: Rightersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…19 To date, Stormfront is the oldest surviving online White Nationalist participatory forum and, despite attempts to cast itself as a non-violent, non-racist website (Vysotsky & McCarthy, 2017), it has been previously labelled the "murder capital of the internet" (Beirich, 2014). 20 Its membership included Anders Breivik, the terrorist responsible for the bombing of a government building in Oslo -killing eight -before dressing up as a police officer, boarding a Ferry to Utoya Island and staging a shooting spree at a Workers Youth League summer camp, killing 69 (Beirich, 2014).…”

Section: The Internet and White Supremacymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bridging White Supremacist Discourse: An ethnography of the online world of the ‘Alt-Right’

Botha¹

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This thesis examines the social world of white supremacy using online ethnography of an Alt-Right forum on 4chan. For four months, I conducted fieldwork on 4chan’s “politically incorrect” (/pol/) message board three to four days a week, observing the interaction of users in real time, compiling ethnographic fieldnotes, and archiving relevant documents and forum threads. This data was systematically analysed and provides the foundation for the case studies at the centre of this thesis: (1) users use of the metaphor of “red pills” to describe their entry to the Alt-Right and adoption of core tenants of movement ideology; (2) the way they translated this ideology for a wider (offline) audience through a campaign to poster the phrase, “It’s Okay to be White” around local neighbourhoods; and (3) the way they constructed collective meaning out of an act of racist violence from a self-identified insider to the community, Stephan Balliet, who killed two people near a synagogue in Halle, Germany, during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. This ethnographic examination of 4chan not only provides a ground-up view of what is generally regarded as among the darkest corners of the internet, based on the everyday interactions of participants in the community, but contributes to wider academic debates about the contemporary landscape of racial inequality and online white supremacy.

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Race, Social Media, and Deviance

Graham¹

2020

The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance

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Normalizing cyberracism: a neutralization theory analysis

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

Vigilante or Viking? Contesting the mediated constructions of Soldiers of Odin Norge

Vigilante or Viking? Contesting the mediated constructions of Soldiers of Odin Norge

Bridging White Supremacist Discourse: An ethnography of the online world of the ‘Alt-Right’

Race, Social Media, and Deviance

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