2021/11/18 by Cathrine Thorleifsson · 35 citations
Social Sciences · Computer Science · #Gender, Feminism, and Media #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection #Terrorism #Dehumanization #Sociology #Criminology #Political science #White (mutation) #Law #Political economy
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/nana.12780
published in Nations and Nationalism 28(1), 286-301 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2021/11/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/05
Abstract This article examines the fascists imaginaries that are produced and circulated at 4chan /pol/. Based on analysis of memes and posts collected during a 6‐month period in 2019, it explores the diagnoses given by anonymous users to the imagining of the ultra‐nation and dehumanized others, and the prescriptions for the remedies needed to bring about its saving. It argues that the cultural practices of /pol/ where fascist fantasies of white supremacy are spread fast and anonymously in a transnational milieu through transgressive play frames are particularly powerful for the amplification of the logic of an endangered ultra‐nation that needs urgent violent defence to obtain racial palingenesis. As such cyberfascism co‐produced in a leaderless network among users scattered across continents lends itself to calls for violent action against minority communities, including terrorism.