RT Article
T1 Thinking beyond extremism: a critique of counterterrorism research on right-wing nationalist and far-right social movements
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 62
IS 2
SP 431
OP 449
A1 Tetrault, Justin Everett Cobain
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1794621024
AB Researchers increasingly use counterterrorism approaches to explain how right-wing groups mobilize as a growing social movement. I reveal the limits of security-oriented research for studying right-wing movements using a semi-ethnographic case study of the Canadian yellow vests. Dominant security narratives paint Canada’s yellow vests as foremost a criminogenic and violent white nationalist movement. My findings, however, suggest that these groups (1) fetishize law and order; and (2) attempt to maintain legitimacy by rejecting vigilantism and policing extreme messaging. Fixating on the ‘extremism’ and criminal risks of right-wing movements can distort analysis and exaggerate their distance from mainstream culture. My data include over 40 h of participant-observation at 20 right-wing rallies and 35 interviews with current leaders and members of on-the-ground nationalist groups.
K1 Extremism
K1 countering violent extremism
K1 Radicalization
K1 Terrorism
K1 Right-wing
K1 Far-right
K1 Ethnography
DO 10.1093/bjc/azab062