Date of Award
4-2019
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Communication
First Advisor
Dr. Anna Popkova
Second Advisor
Dr. Brian Gogan
Third Advisor
Dr. Annette Hamel
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Jesse Smith
Keywords
White supremacy, nationalism, Civil Rights Movement, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theory, victimization
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This project analyzes white supremacist literature before and after the Civil-Rights Movement to examine victimization narratives, siege belief, white supremacist visions of the future, and the threats found in pre-civil rights white supremacist ideology through Goffman’s work on stigma. The author conceptualizes the previous items by utilizing literature analyzing the modern white supremacist movement and using it as a basis to conduct a case comparative study. Using grounded theory, directed approach, and summative content analysis to conduct the study, the author selects 8 influential white supremacist texts for the analysis. The author notes that in addition to the shift in victimization rhetoric noted in the literature, there is a swerve into conspiracy theories by the white supremacist movement- namely a substantial increase in anti-Semitic conspiracy narratives- unfound in any of the pre-civil rights literature.
Recommended Citation
Andres, James, "From Mainstream to Fringe Conspiracy: Examining White Supremacist Literature Before and After the Civil-Rights Movement" (2019). Masters Theses. 4319.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4319