Right-wing extremism in much of the Western world looks far different than it did even a decade ago. Extremists are getting younger, and radicalization is an increasingly online process. According...Show moreRight-wing extremism in much of the Western world looks far different than it did even a decade ago. Extremists are getting younger, and radicalization is an increasingly online process. According to most contemporary theories of radicalization, personal and political grievances are critical foundations for this process. Despite this, research into the forms these grievances take, especially in this new cohort of younger, more online extremists is rare. This study seeks to address this research gap by asking the question: What kinds of personal and political grievances are most likely to push young people to get involved with right-wing extremist groups online? It answers by performing a process of content analysis on messages sent between users of six large right-wing extremist group chats on the popular instant messaging platform Discord between early 2017 and early 2020 with the goal of identifying individual grievances and larger common themes in this cohort of extremists. Out of an initial dataset of 308,207 messages, over three hundred discrete examples were identified and further classified into 35 different thematic subcategories. Two clusters of especially prevalent interrelated grievances were also identified which tended to appear together, signaling the possibility that more similar clusters exist and reaffirming existing theories about the role of grievances in right-wing extremist radicalization pathways.Show less
Although social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media,...Show moreAlthough social media has revolutionized how we learn, form opinions, and have conversations, it also has the potential to undermine democracy. Due to the rise of social media and digital media, political polarization online has sharply increased, with even elected officials and members of the political elite class also engaging in divisive propaganda and false information. This study, through a Twitter analysis, explores the impact of political polarization on citizens' beliefs in their democratic institutions, electoral systems, and government. This research applies relevant but underappreciated theories like the legitimacy theory and the homophily theory to understand how democracy and the internet interact.Show less
