HISTORICIZING THE FAR-RIGHT ONLINE: THE PRODUCTION OF HATE FROM PRINT TO DIGITAL MEDIA Alexis de Coning(1), Ian Glazman-Schillinger(2), Kevan A. Feshami(3), A.J. Bauer(4), Olivia S. Gellar(5) 1: West Virginia Wesleyan College; 2: Syracuse University; 3: Independent Researcher based in Northern Appalachia; 4: University of Alabama; 5: University of Texas at Austin
We have seen an apparent resurgence in far-right and reactionary politics in recent years. In industrialized countries, events like The Unite the Right rally (2017), the January 6 Capitol Attack (2021), attacks carried out by white supremacists and misogynist incels, and the election of right-wing politicians, for instance, serve as flashpoints that bring public attention to the proliferation of far-right communities online. As such, internet scholars have taken up the ways in which these groups communicate, interact, and recruit via digital infrastructures. However, we must remain cognizant of the ways in which pre-digital networks laid the groundwork for the digital movements we see today. This panel aims to contextualize the revival of far-right politics by historicizing our understanding of how these groups came online, and the different forms of intellectual labor and production involved in the transition from pre-digital to digital spaces. Using a variety of research methods and materials, including print and digital archives, we argue that rather than being the sole product of a reactionary opposition to the political climate of the 2010s, the proliferation of online far-right spaces is instead contiguous with older hate movements. Our papers address a range of issues, including the archiving practices of white nationalists, early digital manifestations of white supremacist and men’s rights communities, and the transitions of antisemitism, misogyny, and trolling from print to digital media. Ultimately, we contend that internet scholarship on these movements and phenomena benefits from a deeper understanding of their pre- and post-internet histories.
