1/ Been playing catch up on my reading, both of primary material and books on extremist, conspiracy theories and religion. First 4 months of the year were quite productive, though not as productive as I hoped (thanks concussion).
2/ for academics researching the far right and writing a master and PhD thesis Researching The Far Right is a must. Provides research methods, literature base and key authors to dig in further from various relevant fields. routledge.com/Researching-th…
3/ @KurtBraddock book Weaponized words was a grata read, especially for those looking at narrative analysis. There is a fair amount of information for practitioners looking to do P/CVE work involving narratives. I reccomend.4 cambridge.org/core/books/wea…
4/ @sjacks26 book Oath Keepers was a timely read following the events of January 6, and the role played by the Oath Keepers. It provides a very useful analysis of the movement that is useful to academics, but accessible to non-academic a as well. cup.columbia.edu/book/oath-keep…
5/ @milleridriss book Hate in the Homeland, was a great read. Provided some fantastic insight and made me think of some angle I had not before (thread here
6/ @APerliger American Zealot provided great background that is quite useful to researching IMVE actors. Statistical analysis that was presented in the book was also very useful. Would reccomend and it is accessible to non-academics.
7/ @AntheaButler's book White Evangelical Racisn is an important read in the current socio-political context. It's a short read l, filled with useful insight and accessible to all.
9/ though for those looking into an academic read I would reccomend Michael Butter's The Nature of Conspiracy Theories, and Michael Barkin A Culture of Conspiracy
10/ my pile of hard copies of primary material is finally down to zero but I still have a massive pile in digital formats, but it's an important way to ground ones research. (No I'm not naming them if you know you know)
11/ @kathsstewart The Power of Worshipers is an important read if you want to better understand key elements of the GOP of the right in the USA. Religio-political constructs play an important role in the US yet it is at times ignored when it shouldn't be bloomsbury.com/us/the-power-w…
12/ misinformation age by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatheral examine some of the social factors (rather than psychological) on understanding misinformation and alternative facts.
13/Nancy L. Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead book A Lot of People are Saying provides insight into how conspriayc theories are attacking democratic institutions. This is an important angle that needs to be talked about more beyond elections. press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…
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With Lin Wood causing chaos with the South Carolina GOP it's important to remember that he is openly a QAnon believer and an important neo-QAnon influencer. Unlike established d'influences in QAnon wood has pushed the narrative forward creating new conspriscies for adherents.
His telegram channel has 835,000 followers, it is the largest QAnon channel, followed by Sidney Powell with her 500,000 followers. The channel administered by 38 OG QAnon influencers has only 210,000. Wood has more followers on telegram than all the QAnon groups on Gab.
Woods influence comes from 3 vectors: 1) his proximity to the Former president, 2) his position of power and influence as a lawyer and 3) he hasn't told QAnon followers to stand by and wait, but provided new avenues of investigation and conspiracy, this providing participation
1/ My colleagues @Blyth_Crawford@FlorenceKeen and @hannah1_rose and I have been working on this massive report for weeks to provide insight into the state of domestics violent extremism after the first 100 days of the Biden administration. Here is what we found:
2/ We applied a mixed methods approach, leveraging data scientific methods and digital ethonography, in an effort to better understand MAGA-related groups, movements, and narratives both prior to and after Biden’s inauguration.
3/ It examines the various groups and movements that gained momentum under the administration, the key discourses and motivations of those that were a part of the 6 January insurrection, and how these have evolved.
2/ The most prominent careers built upon a QAnon foundation are those of Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert who endorsed QAnon during their bids for Congress.
3/ As @travis_view has covered extensively Majorie Taylor Greene's adherence to QAnon dates back to the it's inception in 2017, long predating her political career.
2/ As @AlKapDC extensively covered in his monitoring of QAnon candidates, 38% of QAnon candidates were women. 42% of these made it on the ballot. What this means is that out of the record 94 women who ran for congress 14% espoused some belief in QAnon
3/ These statistics are very important as @Blyth_Crawford and I highlight women are not only underrepresented in politics, but their role in extremists movements is still perceived through a gender biased lens.
1/ First lets take a look at the QAnon community. There are 6 themes that I found common throughout the communities (there are more obviously)
2/ Same in the movement still push the narrative that this is all part of the plan and will lead to the revelation of some great corruption or some great plot. Though this type of hopium was in the minority as opposed to past QAnon narratives
3/ a fair amount pushed the narrative that this was a DS plot and may even count as a victory for them; however, patriots and anons are wise to their plan and will not fall for theirs deception.
1/ For those who were not available for the presentation here is my slides and some comments. Link to the presentation is here
2/ as it stands I have found QAnon communities in 85 countries. Now there is no exact science to this as attribution via social media data is extremely unreliable. (anyone who say otherwise is lying)
3/ The way I evaluate this is based on if QAnon content is translated into foreign languages, is QAnon content adapted to local socio-political contexts, are adherents adapting and manipulating QAnon narratives to fit their context,etc.