In recent years, an increase in far-right terrorist attacks can be seen in the West. Such attacks are often preceded by the publishment of manifestos in which the ideology, motivation and tactical...Show moreIn recent years, an increase in far-right terrorist attacks can be seen in the West. Such attacks are often preceded by the publishment of manifestos in which the ideology, motivation and tactical choices of the terrorists are often described. At the hand of the concepts of Windisch et al. (2018), who explain how individuals are able to engage in violence, the manifestos of Brendan Tarrant and Patrick Crusius will be analysed. By coding the manifestos at the hand of the familiarisation process (Terry et al., 2017), the concepts of disengaging morally, deindividuation and establishing emotional dominance will be connected or not be connected to certain codes. Both Brendan Tarrant and Patrick Crusius have committed terrorists attacks in 2019 which have resulted in the death of multiple people in the name of defending the White race. At the hand of the research question; how do certain techniques that are identified in the manifestos of Brendan Tarrant and Patrick Crusius show that they enabled themselves to engage in violence, this research will show that the manifestos of Patrick Crusius and Brendan Tarrant show that they have enabled themselves to engage in violence by framing violence as the only answer to the immigration issue as perceived by them, by dehumanizing non-Western people and immigrants, by aligning oneself with other violent actors and by explaining their target selection.Show less
In this research a frame analysis is used to test the extent of ecofascist idealism is present in the manifestos of Brenton Tarrant and Patrick Crusius. Through a literature review key themes of...Show moreIn this research a frame analysis is used to test the extent of ecofascist idealism is present in the manifestos of Brenton Tarrant and Patrick Crusius. Through a literature review key themes of ecofascism are identified. These are integrated in a theoretical framework on which the analysis is based. Findings from the analysis indicate that Crusius and Tarrant differ to a large extent in their ideals. It is also found that Tarrant holds more extreme racially focused views while Crusius holds more ethnopluralist ecocentric views. Critically Crusius does not show any romanticised idealisations of nature and race, therefore lacking in a key component of ecofascist ideals. With the mass shooting by white nationalist Payton Grendon the importance of research in this area is reasserted.Show less
In recent years, right-wing extremists have shown that the power of their writings is just as impactful as the violent attacks they commit. Extremism scholar J.M. Berger noted in 2019: “We have...Show moreIn recent years, right-wing extremists have shown that the power of their writings is just as impactful as the violent attacks they commit. Extremism scholar J.M. Berger noted in 2019: “We have only begun to suffer the cost of these writings, crafted with an intent no less lethal than their authors’ violent crimes” (Berger, 2019, p.8). Right-wing extremist manifestos have a complex meaning, attraction, and impact. They aim to inspire more violence by expressing their grievances, experiences, and extremist ideology. More research on extreme-right manifestos will explain how they impact their audience and can spread ideology (Berger, 2019). Specifically, this study zooms in on how the manifestos of Brenton Tarrant and John Earnest use ‘othering’ to justify self-sacrifice. This question is built around the concept of us-versus- them to gain more knowledge of how right-wing extremists inspire one another. This is important since it allows us to determine and understand extremist groups' online community- building. Especially on a global level, this is of great importance because this community- building that happens online has often been proven to connect many attackers to each other (Baumgarten, 2017, p. 1). Suppose we try and understand the similarities between the manifestos of different right-wing extremists. In that case, we can potentially gain more insight into how this online community inspires each other and can successfully transfer right-wing extremist ideology to its audience. In the end, this paper can then function as a groundwork for further research and policy papers focussing on the online prevention of such extremist ideology. Findings point toward a substantial overlap of discourse in both manifestos; mainly apparent is that both extremists extensively use similar us-vs-them rhetoric to emphasise alienation as well as polarisation between the in-group and out-group (Berger, 2019, Curle, n.d.).Show less
Within far-right extremism, a recent trend has taken place where perpetrators publish a manifesto shortly before their attack in order to both justify their actions and inspire others. This thesis...Show moreWithin far-right extremism, a recent trend has taken place where perpetrators publish a manifesto shortly before their attack in order to both justify their actions and inspire others. This thesis analyses the manifestos written by Anders Breivik and Elliot Rodger, searching for anti-feminist trends, and compare the presence of these trends among the two manifestos. To achieve this, content analysis is performed on both manifestos. This analysis uncovers that Breivik and Rodger, though both belonging to different subgroups within far-right extremism, share similarities on multiple fronts: the wish to create an ideal world, the blaming of women and/or feminism for their problems, the aim to severely reverse women’s rights, and racist views.Show less
Brenton Tarrant, a 28-year old young male, has killed 51 victims and wounded many more during two shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. His manifesto The Great Replacement, published...Show moreBrenton Tarrant, a 28-year old young male, has killed 51 victims and wounded many more during two shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019. His manifesto The Great Replacement, published online prior to the attack, has voiced his concerns about the white race being ethnically, racially and culturally displaced in what he identifies as a process of “white genocide”. Inspired by far-right ideologies and certainly not a new concept, his manifesto still managed to create resonance as more attackers in the coming months have referenced him as an inspiration in their own manifestos, namely John Earnest and Patrick Crusius. In this thesis, the focus will lie on diagnostic, prognostic and motivational analyses of framing, used by these three perpetrators in their manifestos. This thesis reveals the flexibility with which far-right terrorists used the “white genocide” conspiracy theory to target a hated outgroup of their choice, to justify the use of violence due to the urgency of the “genocidal” processes and the right for “self-defense”, as well as their inventional use of motivational framing to create resonance and effectively call other young radicalized individuals into violent action.Show less
Right before their violent terrorist attacks, the right-extremist John Earnest and Patrick Crusius uploaded a manifesto in which they justify their deeds. Targeting Jews and Hispanics, they...Show moreRight before their violent terrorist attacks, the right-extremist John Earnest and Patrick Crusius uploaded a manifesto in which they justify their deeds. Targeting Jews and Hispanics, they supposedly defended the white race from genocide or replacement by non-white immigrants. While these manifestos have been studied in several contexts, academic research remains scarce. This thesis contributes towards filling that gap by applying Berger’s (2018) framework to argue how Crusius’ and Earnest’s extremist manifestos compare in their identity- and crisis-solution construction. Qualitative coding of the manifestos was used to inform a comparative content analysis. Found was that despite differences in in-group definitions, Crusius and Earnest predominantly highlight practices to describe their out-groups. Whereas Crusius mainly employs a dystopian crisis narrative, Earnest primarily outlines a conspiracy crisis narrative to emphasize the external threat to his in-group. The violent solutions that Crusius and Earnest propose range from forced segregation to a revolution displaying elements of genocide. This thesis concludes that a dissection of the identity- and crisis-solution constructions in these manifestos contributes towards an enhanced placement of Crusius and Earnest in the wider contemporary far-right context. Additionally, this thesis confirms Berger’s (2018) contention that despite divergences in content, ideologies can be broken down along two constructs: the identity construct and the crisis-solution construct.Show less
