Selected Terms Glossary

Introduction

Accelerationism (p.14): Belief in the need to speed up the perceived inevitable collapse of political and economic systems through acts of violence that will prompt societal panic and reciprocal/revenge violence from affected groups. 

Aggrieved entitlement (p.7): The idea that dominant groups are being surpassed by individuals from groups they deem beneath them in social status, taking jobs or positions to which they believe they are entitled (Manne 2018). 

Authoritarianism (p.4): The enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom. 

Crisis narratives (p.15): Descriptions of threatening developments in the world that require solutions through violent, hostile actions against enemies to protect one’s group and identity (Berger, 2018). 

Dehumanization (p.6): Language and beliefs that position entire groups of people as subhuman or less than human. 

Extremism/Extremist (p.1): “Extremism refers to the belief that an in-group’s success or survival can never be separated from the need for hostile action against an out-group.”1  (Hostile action can range from verbal attacks to genocide, but do not have to include violence.)  An extremist is a person who believes and acts on their extremism beliefs. 

Far-Right (p.4): A spectrum or cluster of overlapping exclusionary and dehumanizing ideologies and practices.  Far right ideologies, individuals, and groups espouse beliefs that are antidemocratic, antiegalitarian, and supremacist (such as male, Christian, white, or Western supremacist), although not all far-right individuals/groups share belief in all of these elements equally. 

‘Great Replacement,’ ‘Eurabia,’ & ‘white genocide’ (p.9): Variations of the far-right conspiracy theory of deliberate and orchestrated attempts to ‘replace’ or eradicate white people, which the far-right uses to justify their own actions/beliefs. 

Misogyny (p.7): Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. 

Radicalization (p.3): Holding increasingly hostile views toward a perceived “out group,” potentially leading to discriminatory or violent behavior. 

Recidivism/reengagement (p.23) – a return to extremist behavior after detention. 

Reciprocal radicalization/cumulative extremism (p.13): Acts of terror that develop out of revenge or in response to terrorist acts from the “other side.” 

Terrorism (p.2): “Terrorism…is a particular species of political violence.  It is violence or the threat of violence against noncombatants or property in order to gain a political, ideological, or religious goal through fear and intimidation.”2  Terrorism is a violence tactic, extremism is a belief system. 

Chapter 1

Eco-fascism (p.38): The mixing of environmental concerns with far-right ideologies, using climate change and environmental degradation to justify immigration restrictions and other exclusionary policies to protect claimed space for the ‘legitimate’ citizens of the state. 

Ethnostate (p.29): A sovereign state of which citizenship is restricted to members of a particular racial or ethnic group. 

Geographic “othering” (p.34): Using real or imagined border to evoke an origin story, create justifications for exclusionary policies and practices, and designate enemies who threaten those geographic spaces. 

Globalization (p. 32): Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. 

‘National Liberated Zones’ (p.41): Attempts to create economically independent far-right areas within a local state or region where the state would lose its monopoly on power, attempting to create a separate society and counterculture, coexisting with the mainstream. 

‘Zones of fear’ or “no-go areas’ (p.42): Places dominated by far-right extremists where foreigners, leftists, or people of color were not welcome and might be met with violence.  

Chapter 2

Aesthetics (p.62): In this context, aesthetics is a look, appearance, symbols associated with a particular movement or ideology. 

Conspiracy theory (p.55): A theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.  Conspiracy theories introduce new ideological frames that seem to explain people’s social words, and create a clear line between “us” and “them.” 

Disinformation (p.55): Deliberately misleading or false information (misinformation) that is intentionally spread.   

Mainstreaming of extremism (p.46): The process through which previously extreme ideas become normalized as part of the acceptable spectrum of beliefs within democratic societies. 

Meme (p.66): Typically, visual cultural elements that use jokes to apply witty text, labels, symbols, or alterations to images, words, photographs, cartoons, short videos, facial expressions or other cultural bits in ways that are then shared and altered repeatedly by other users online. 

Overton Window (p.45): The range of political ideas and policy solutions considered acceptable by the public at any given time. 

Polarization (p.49): A sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions. 

Populism (p.48): A political rhetorical strategy used by politicians who argue that their own party or platform is a better, more authentic channel for the voice of the people, are explicitly anti-elite, and have specific conceptions of who are the “true” citizens of any given locale. Populist rhetoric blames elites and/or others for any real or perceived citizen grievances (Mudde 2004). 

Populist nationalist (p.49): This form of populism focuses not just on local interests but also position local/national interests against the global interests including arguing for reduced trade, refusing to participate in international treaties, and calling for reduced power for international organizations/agreements such as the United Nations (UN) or the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 

Relative deprivation (p.50): The subjective discrepancy between what people think they deserve, and what they actually think they can get (Gurr, 1970). 

“Thick” populism (p.49): Populism where the “pure” people or “true” citizens are positioned not just against the “bad” elite, but also against “bad” others, such as immigrants (Kubik, 2018). Often links to populist nationalism or nativist beliefs. 

Chapter 3

Balaclava (p.70): A form of cloth headgear designed to expose only part of the face, usually the eyes and mouth. Depending on style and how it is worn, only the eyes, mouth and nose, or just the front of the face are unprotected. 

Boogaloo (p.81): Coded language referring to a potential second U.S. civil war. 

Fashwave (p.70): Short for fascist wave, a variant of electronic music which is music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments or circuitry-based music technology. 

Hate clothing (p. 80): Clothing with explicit or coded messaging of dehumanizing or exclusionary slogans, often celebrating violence in the name of the cause, and linking patriotism/nationalism with racist and/or bigoted slogans. 

Iconography (p.81): The traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject. 

Nipsters (p.79): A media term for German youth who adopted clothing with coded symbols and messages of far-right extremism, meaning Nazi hipster. 

Preppers (p.74): Also referred to as survivalists or doomsday preppers, these are individuals or groups who actively prepare for apocalyptic end times.  

Vlog (p.69 ): A video blog. 

Chapter 4

Europol (p.98): More common name of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation. 

Hegemonic masculinity (p.106): A concept that explains how particular views about manhood and masculinity become culturally ideal, or “hegemonic,” during any given historical moment. 

Hooliganism (p. 97): Disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying, and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. Soccer hooliganism has long had an association with far right and neo-Nazi scenes in Europe. 

Hypermasculinity (p.101): A psychological term for the exaggeration of male stereotypical behavior, such as an emphasis on physical strength, aggression, and sexuality. 

Mixed martial arts (MMA) (p. 93): A full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports and martial arts from around the world. 

Nativist (p. 93): Relating to or supporting the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants. 

“Red Pilled” (p.100): From the 1999 film, the Matrix, the terms "red pill" and "blue pill" refer to a choice between revealing an unpleasant or otherwise life-changing truth, represented by the red pill, and remaining in blissful ignorance, represented by the blue pill. In far-right terminology, being red-pilled refers to “waking up” to far-right ideologies and beliefs. 

Snowflake (p.105): A negative term for opponents of the far-right perceived as overly soft, sensitive, fragile, or easily triggered. 

“Straight edge” (p.102): A lifestyle of no drugs, no alcohol, and healthy eating. 

Chapter 5

Antifa (p.115): “Short for “‘anti-fascist,” a loose collection of groups, networks and individuals who believe in active, aggressive opposition to far right-wing movements.”3 

Conspiracism (p. 124): The belief that major historical and political events are brought about as the result of a conspiracy between interested parties, or are manipulated by or on behalf of an unknown group of influential people; belief in or advocacy of conspiracy theories. 

Cultural Marxism (p.123): Coded far-right language for their belief that there is a global orchestrated effort by communists to overthrow capitalist and Western societies, including traditional Christian values, from the inside.  Feminism, a disrupted gender binary, multiculturalism, Muslim immigration, and LGBTQ rights are all invoked as examples of cultural Marxism. 

Entryism (p.119): The use of mainstream political parties and systems by far-right individuals outside the system for their own purposes. 

Eugenics (p.136): A theory widely discredited as unscientific, racist, anti-Semitic, it was the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable.  In the early 20th century, eugenics in practice in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and elsewhere was used to justify racist and biased laws and practices that excluded people and groups judged to be inferior, often based on race. 

Groyper Army (p.116): The groypers are a part of the far-right, self-named in reference to the Pepe the Frog meme, and led by Nick Fuentes, who believe that many conservative speakers and the Trump administration more generally have become too moderate and are out of line with “true” conservative thought. 

Hate crime (p. 121): A crime, sometimes one involving violence, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds.  There is a U.S. federal hate crimes statute but individual states in the U.S. also have their own hate crime definitions and laws. 

Marginalization (p.117): Treatment of a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral. 

Metapolitics (p.129): A far-right term used to refer to a long game, where a slower incubation of ideas will seed the cultural changes and ideological foundation required for a majority of the public to accept the idea of the far-right ideal of a white ethno-state. 

Miscegenation (p.132): Marriage or cohabitation between two people from different racial groups.  The U.S. Miscegenation laws (laws blocking interracial marriage) existed in some parts of the U.S. until 1967 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all miscegenation laws were unconstitutional (Loving v. Virginia, 1967). 

Propaganda (p.114): Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. 

Chapter 6

Algorithmic radicalization (p. 150): Refers to changes in human attitudes, beliefs, or behavior as individuals are directed to extremist content, networks, groups, or other individuals as a result of guided searches, filtered news feeds, recommended videos, and connections from extremist adjacent sites. 

Alt tech (p.144): A group of websites, social media platforms, and internet service providers that position themselves as alternatives to more mainstream offerings. 

De-platforming (p.139): A term that refers to individuals or groups being denied access to a particular site, or to a forum like 8chan losing technical support from the website company that had been supporting it. 

Digital platforms (p.139): “A place for exchanges of information, goods, or services to occur between producers and consumers as well as the community that interacts with said platform.”4  There are different types of digital platforms including: social media platforms, media sharing platforms, or business platforms. 

Echo chambers (p.141): Refers to situations in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal. 

Ecology (p.139): The interrelationship of organisms and their environments; in this context, the interrelationship of people and technology of hate online, which is generally self-organized rather than engineered from the top down. 

Ecosystem (p.138): A complex network or interconnected system. 

Filter bubbles (p.150): A situation in which an internet user encounters only information and opinions that conform to and reinforce their own beliefs, caused by algorithms that personalize an individual’s online experience based on their previous preferences. 

Shadow banned (p.152): A far-right conspiracy theory that certain individuals are being oppressed by blocking the person or their content from an online community such as a social media site by an orchestrated group of political elites. 

Conclusion

Antiracist (p.170): A person who opposes racism and promotes racial justice (Kendi 2019). 

Counterargumentation (p.174): A tactic of using an argument or set of reasons put forward to oppose an idea or theory developed in another argument. 

Empathy (p.168): The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. 

Global South (p.169): The less socio-economically developed global regions in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East (this is a disputed term, but it has generally replaced “third world country” as more acceptable terminology). 

Holistic (p.167): Characterized by comprehension of the parts of something as intimately interconnected, focusing on the whole person, considering mental and social factors. 

Resilience (p.167): The ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events, including exposure to or influence by extremist narratives. 

Scalability (p.168): The capacity to be changed in size or scale.