CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Paolini, Christian |
|---|---|
| Title | Yankee Cyberborea: Contemporary Expressions of American Far Right Ecologism on Facebook and Telegram |
| Summary | The far right and ecological politics have a long, complicated, intertwined history. This thesis explores contemporary ideas of far right ecologism on Facebook and Telegram as it pertains to the United States. As it is established that social media serves as fertile ground for political radicalization, this study aims to establish how the contemporary American far right engages with nature politics and how this interaction varies between platforms as they have key differences. Facebook is extremely widespread in the United States, whereas Telegram is significantly more specialized. To answer these questions, I conducted a critical discourse analysis study utilizing the Discourse Historical Approach. I analyzed Facebook comments on Fox News and Breitbart posts which focused on climate events and summits which directly involved the United States, as well as Telegram channels which were based in the United States. The results revealed that the current state of far right ecologism is extraordinarily divided between the climate skeptical and denialist mainstream far right present on Facebook and the traditionalist and esoteric niche far right in Telegram spaces. However, whereas the former group is shrinking, the latter have potential to grow through political shifts, metapolitical strategies, and violence, which some groups actively pursue and celebrate. |
| Supervisor | Wodak, Ruth; Pap, András László |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/paolini_christian.pdf |
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