This dissertation examines the potential existential roots of contemporary American social movements. I extract an existential social movement theory from Albert Camus’s philosophy that can elucidate surprising similarities and tactical differences across ongoing movements. I then apply the theory to Black Lives Matter and the Alt-Right which helps demonstrate that both movements express existential anxiety related to collective, racialized death. The social movement theory also clarifies the movements’ divergent political tactics as Black Lives Matter responds to existential anxiety by collectively acting to relieve immediate Black suffering and death which I argue is a Camusian rebellion. The Alt-Right conversely responds to existential anxiety by directing their energies towards achieving a teleological goal of racial homogeneity which I argue is a Camusian revolution. I use a variety of first-person sources including memoirs, interviews, and undercover exposés to support my thesis that Black Lives Matter and the Alt-Right are both responding to feelings of racialized existential anxiety, although they traverse disparate pathways.While the dissertation is primarily focused on racially motivated social movements, I argue that American environmental activists can learn from, and emulate Black Lives Matter’s tactics. Environmental activists argue that climate change is an existential crisis, and the anxiety of the death and devastation of climate catastrophe underlies much of today’s climate activism. Black Lives Matter has successfully transformed existential anxiety over state sanctioned Black death into meaningful and immediate reforms, without sacrificing its radical critiques of racial capitalism, mass incarceration, and white supremacy. I argue that environmental activists can likewise energize their existential anxieties into reforms that slow climate change, while continuing to challenge systemic degradation of the global environment. I conclude the dissertation by examining the 2020 Black Lives Matter activism in response to the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Ongoing and recent Black Lives Matter protests are rooted in the same collectively anxious response to Black death and have achieved even greater sociopolitical and cultural changes than the protests of years prior, providing further evidence for my thesis. / Political Science

This thesis examines the alt-right movement through two conservative American news sites. The sites that were looked at were Breitbart and National Review. Five articles that discussed the alt-right movement were chosen from each news site. The articles that were chosen had all been written under 2016. This specific year was chosen due to the presidential election that was held that year. It is also because of the increased media coverage that the alt-right movement was receiving due to their connection to then candidate Donald Trump. The purpose of this thesis is to examine if there is a difference in the way the alt-right movement is described by the two new sites. To examine this, three factors were chosen as a foundation for the thesis. The factors dealt with the description of the members of the alt-right, racism and western values. The result showed a significant difference in how the alt-right movement was being portrayed by the articles form Breitbart and National Review. The articles from Breitbart showcased a positive description by sympathizing with their fight against the conservative establishment. The articles from National Review had a complete different outlook on the movement and deemed it as racist and threatening to the foundation of conservatism in the United States.

Antisemitism is a word connected with the rise of the Third Reich during the 30s and 40s in Europe. But it is still very relevant today with alt-right movements growing and becoming stronger. This essay aims to show how the growing alt-right movements in Sweden expresses their antisemitic ideologies. Studies has shown that antisemitism has become stronger and more spread across Europe and Sweden. This essay will explain different scenarios from the past two years, which are connected to antisemitism in Sweden. These scenarios will later be analysed through different methods. Examples from alt-right websites and twitter accounts will also be presented to contribute to a thorough analysis. Later a parallel will be drawn between the scenarios and the ideologies of the Third Reich.

This project investigates the Alternative Right's racial discourse on Twitter. It examines to what extent the Alt-Right indicates a fundamental break from "colorblind racism", the United State's dominant racial discourse. Does the Alt-Right's ascendency and project signify a new period of racial formation? Analyzing tweets from three celebrity Alt-Right figures, Richard Spencer, David Duke, and Jared Taylor, this project finds that the Alt-Right does not indicate a new period of racial formation. Rather, they demonstrate an extremist development to that rhetoric.

In this thesis, I’m working from the premise that postmodernism hitherto has been associated with the left. The next line of argument is, however, that this relation is contingent and that there is no necessity in postmodernisms association with left-wing ideas and political ambitions. To challenge this assumption, I intend to demonstrate that the Alt-Right, a far-right movement, at least in some respects can be considered as postmodern. If there is indeed cause to think of the Alt-Right as postmodern, then we would have to rethink postmodernisms political inclination. I intend to operationalize this by looking at the Alt-Right’s views on the changeability of politics and the social world, and pop culture, through the lens of a set of postmodern ideas. In particular, postmodern ideas concerning language, discourse and culture, and in doing so get a grip on whether it is correct to view the Alt-Right as postmodern or not. If a connection between the Alt-Right and postmodernism indeed exists, then we would have to rethink the necessity in the left-wing nature of postmodernism.

Existing research about the manosphere and the subculture of Incels is primarily focused on the discourse on the American online discussion forums. After several high-profile attacks performed by Incels, resulting in severe casualties, the phenomenon of Incels has reached the mainstream media as well as public interest in the forums where members of the manosphere communicate. The discourse displays a highly misogynistic worldview, where the belief in a hegemonic patriarchy is oozing with toxic masculinity. The shared misogyny has also led to discursive interactions between Incels and the alt-right movement. Men are considered to be entitled to women, and a rejection is an excuse for violence. This study aims to investigate if the of misogynistic discourse expressed in the American manosphere as well as in the alt-right has gained hold in a Swedish context. Mainstream media, as well as alternative media, have been investigated and analysed with discourse theory. In discourse theory, language plays an active role in constructing the social world and discourse creates a world that looks real or true for the writer. The Swedish online discussion forum Flashback is where most of the communication seems to take place for groups within the manosphere as well as the alt-right and where most of the misogynistic context can be identified. Themes and concepts from the American misogynistic manosphere can be recognised and has gained a strong hold in the alternative media as well as mainstream media in Sweden. The strong hold of the misogyny in a Swedish context may display a risk for future violent actions.

We live in a world driven by fast technologies. The same technologies that make information more accessible have created a dilemma by which the same conduits have also enabled access to mass amounts of counter-factual information. It is the assertion of this thesis project that counter- factual information poses a growing risk to the security and stability in liberal democratic societies and warrants a proportional response. The body of work which follows will explore what I have characterized as an information crisis. The information crisis, so presented, is a multi-faceted issue. It's constituent causes and outcomes concern both scholars of security studies and sociology. To address breadth of scope and immediacy of the crisis, the conceptual framework purposed in this project offers an interface between actor-network theory and security studies (ANT-security interface). Actor-network theory is a material-semiotic approach that preferences engagement with human and technological actants as an assemblage. Or, in other words, a network of relationships. The first chapter will introduce the dimensions of the information crisis, providing relevant examples of how counter-factual information embodies a human, and societal security issue. It will delineate important concepts such as misinformation, and...

This thesis examines how 'othering' discourse can be used to construct and negotiate boundaries and shape collective identities within online spaces. Through a mixed-method approach of thematic analysis and a netnographic study, and by drawing on theoretical concepts of online othering and identity formation, this thesis explores how the Gamergate community r/KotakuInAction can be understood in relation to Gamergate, the Alt-Right and society at large. The results show that the community perceive and construct the SJW as a common adversary – a monstrous representation of feminism, progressiveness and political correctness. The analysis also revealed how racist rhetorics and white male anxieties characterize the communitys' othering discourse. Through an in-depth study of user-submitted comment, this thesis argues that r/KotakuInAction's collective identity is fluid and reactionary in nature, characterized by a discourse that is indicative of Alt-Right ideology and white male supremacy. Future research should further explore the network of communities that r/KotakuInAction is part of, as well as examine how the community transform over time.

This thesis aims to examine how online engagement in the #NotMyBattlefield campaign can be understood as an online harassment campaign and a continuation of the Gamergate controversy. Research has shown that Gamergate was appropriated by external political groups, such as the Alt-Right. The Alt-Right is known to be highly adept in media manipulation, executing deliberate framing strategies as a means to push political agendas and gain influence online (Blodgett, 2020, p. 187; O’Donnell, 2019, p. 10). The group's appropriation of Gamergate and gaming culture is highly indicative of the politicisation of gaming culture. The aim of this research is twofold. First, an overarching content analysis seeks to analyse the rhetoric arguments and thematic patterns found in conjunction with the hashtag #NotMyBattlefield on Twitter. Secondly, this thesis employs an adapted version of Burgess and Matamoros-Fernández (2016) method of issue mapping. The purpose of this mapping is to analyse the campaign’s relationship to prominent actors within online media, as well as to examine the structure and patterns the campaign followed. The combined results of the content analysis and issue mapping reveal how the #NotMyBattlefield can be understood as a continuation of Gamergate, influenced by Alt-Right ideologies. They bare similarities in the way feminism and political correctness are painted out to be instigators of an attack on gaming culture.Furthermore, the results also reveal how such campaigns are primarily reactionary - only showing increased levels of activity in response to external factors and events. At no point in time did the campaign show any indications of self-sustained motivation or engagement. The results of this thesis further signify the politicisation of gaming culture. The influence of external forces, such as the Alt-Right, signifies a need for further research in order to gain a better understanding of how to circumvent and prevent the radicalisation of gaming.

No description available.