Leiden University Student Repository

Zwet, Jurgen van der (2023)

“The mainstream media falsely labeled me alt-right. I am a traditional conservative and an America-first nationalist”: Explaining how Brittany Sellner spreads right-wing extremist discourse in her book ‘Patriots Not Welcome’

Bachelor thesis | Security Studies (BSc)

After being neglected for decades, females are more increasingly becoming the subject of research in right-wing extremism (RWE). Most attention however is going to their roles in RWE movements, and not to how women perform these roles. This paper analyses the book Patriots Not Welcome by Brittany Sellner, an RWE influencer, to analyse how Sellner brings forward RWE discourse. A discourse analysis was conducted based on an interpretative approach to identify the presence of different concepts of RWE discourse. A framing theory was used to identify how certain frames were used to present this discourse. The analysis shows the presence of six RWE concepts: anti-immigration beliefs, anti-establishment beliefs, criticism or aversion to the mainstream media, freedom of speech and censorship, traditionalism and Christianity, and Antifa. Furthermore, diagnostic and motivational frames were used to strengthen these concepts, and frame amplification was used for emphasizing certain arguments.

Author

Zwet, Jurgen van der

Faculty

Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs

Supervisors

Leede, S.A.M. de

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en