Political Extremism and Social Movements

Futrell, Robert; Simi, Pete; Tan, Anna E.

doi:10.1002/9781119168577.ch35

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The subtle influence that they exert can be thought to resemble that of the long-standing notion of “opinion leaders”—those who function as mediators of information to less active sections of the public through their personal relationships (Lazarsfeld et al, 1944). Such covert ways of exercising influence can potentially be of particular importance in the context of far-right discourse, due to its socially stigmatized and potentially even illegal nature (see also Crosset et al, 2019; Futrell et al, 2018). Due to its subtlety, this form of influential user could have the potential power to spread hateful ideas widely while at the same time avoid any public scrutiny and accountability (Åkerlund, 2020).…”

Section: Performative Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence Without Metrics: Analyzing the Impact of Far-Right Users in an Online Discussion Forum

Åkerlund

2021

Social Media + Society

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The study presented in this article explores the processes through which influence takes shape in eclectic online forums with few vanity metrics. Using a dataset of 7.5 million posts in the large Swedish online discussion forum Flashback, it explores who becomes influential, their strategies for appealing to the community, and others’ support of them. While it has been known that Flashback hosts far-right users and content, the current study shows that these sentiments are not fringe or obscure, but instead seemingly widely supported and influential in the forum. It illustrates that the influential users—those who are supported and acknowledged by others as important—exclusively and continuously expressed far-right ideas and displayed an embeddedness within the far-right, as well as in the forum’s culture. The study finds that despite few visible markers, many users learned to recognize influential users and their far-right content as worthy of support. In the absence of built-in functions, some users engaged in manual “liking” and “sharing” of influential users’ content via their replies, acknowledging it as a way to legitimize them. At the same time, the analysis showcased how a lack of vanity metrics countered potential echo chamber effects in the forum as disliked users—advocating progressive gender and immigration ideas—were unintentionally amplified by those who attempted to silence them. The article also discusses the role of Flashback as a platform in the proliferation of hate.

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Section: Performative Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence Without Metrics: Analyzing the Impact of Far-Right Users in an Online Discussion Forum

Åkerlund

2021

Social Media + Society

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“…It is of utmost significance to acknowledge that these mechanisms do not function in isolation, nor do they exist autonomously. Numerous mechanisms exhibit interdependent interactions and mutual reinforcement(Futrell, Simi, and Tan, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

Key Approaches in Radicalization Research: A Literature Review

Alegöz

2024

ihcd

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Radikalleşme kavramı, özellikle Soğuk Savaş’ın güvenlik yapısının çözülmesinin ardından takip eden yıllarda, küresel güvenlik çalışmaları ve entelektüel çevrelerde büyük ilgi görmüştür. Bu kavram, 11 Eylül 2001'de ve 2004'te Madrid ve 2005'te Londra gibi Avrupa kentlerinde meydana gelen terör eylemlerinin ardından küresel çapta tanınırlık kazandı. Bu analitik paradigma, siyasi şiddet olaylarını yorumlama pratiğinde, özellikle de cihatçı terörizm ve Batılı "yabancı savaşçıların" Suriye ve Irak'a katılımı üzerine yapılan akademik araştırmalarda yaygın olarak kabul görmüştür. Sosyal bilim alanları, özellikle yerli şiddet yanlıları ile bağlantılı olarak radikalleşme konusuna giderek daha fazla odaklanmakta ve görünüşte sıradan olan bireylerin terörizmi benimsemeye doğru çekildiği karmaşık süreçleri anlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda çalışmamız radikalleşme kavramının uluslararası güvenlik mimarisinin daha geniş bağlamı içerisindeki pratik temellerine yer vermekte ve radikalleşme literatüründe tartışılan başlıca yaklaşımları konu edinmektedir.

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Social Movement Partyism and Congressional Opposition to Certifying the 2020 Presidential Election Results in the United States

Van Dyke,

Dodson,

Almeida

et al. 2024

American Behavioral Scientist

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At times, radicalized rightwing movements may influence political institutions to the point of weakening core democratic practices and promoting the tools of autocrats. We advance a theory of social movement partyism, arguing that formal political parties and social movements may forge an alliance through a relational opportunity-mobilization exchange, whereby the party provides political opportunities to the movement and the movement offers a highly energized base of support. In this environment, elected officials will be moved to take action in the electoral arena consistent with movement goals. We use a quantitative dataset at the House District level to examine the impact of the hate movement on members of Congress voting to object to certifying the presidential election results on January 6, 2021, net of a host of individual and social contextual variables. We find Congress members from districts with high levels of hate movement organizations, especially those formed in the Trump era, were more likely to object to the election results. We provide a reliability check using a model looking at additional measures of anti-democratic activity and autocratic tools. Our results provide strong support for our contention that social movement partyism involving an extremist movement influenced recent anti-democratic and authoritarian actions on the part of elected officials in the United States.

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Political Extremism and Social Movements

Cited by 4 publications

References 50 publications

Influence Without Metrics: Analyzing the Impact of Far-Right Users in an Online Discussion Forum

Influence Without Metrics: Analyzing the Impact of Far-Right Users in an Online Discussion Forum

Key Approaches in Radicalization Research: A Literature Review

Social Movement Partyism and Congressional Opposition to Certifying the 2020 Presidential Election Results in the United States

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