The Spread of Extremist Ideas
How do fringe ideas and conspiracy theories spread from the fringe to the mainstream? Why do some fringe ideas and conspiracy theories gain traction, while others died a quit death? My dissertation asks one central question: “How do we explain the movement of conspiracy theories and fringe ideas from the fringe to the mainstream?” I contend that cultural context plays an important role in mainstreaming fringe ideologies and conspiracy theories and are important for these ideas’ staying power. Cultural context refers to symbolism, myths and nostalgia, which are part of the master narrative of a nation. The cultural context, or rather, cultural alignment of conspiracy theories and fringe ideologies, provides necessary legitimization to these theories and ideologies, by resonating with the existing cultural context.
QAnon: A New Religious Movement?
This paper draws on qualitative content analysis to analyze the QAnon movement as a New Religious Movement (NRM). This movement, encompassing many different conspiratorial beliefs, has been very pervasive in American politics and gained traction in recent years with a violent outburst on January 6th. Because of the diverse nature of the QAnon movement, making sense of it has been proven to be difficult. In this paper, I argue that the QAnon should be viewed as a New Religious Movement (NRM). By applying the five characteristics of an NRM – it is relatively new, countercultural, there is a charismatic leader, a dichotomous worldview within the group and the movement is viewed with suspicion by outsiders - I show that the QAnon movement falls neatly within this category.
Comparative Homonationalism and the Far-Right: How Dutch and American Neofascist Ideologies Imagine Queer Citizenships (with Jana Foxe)
This project examines the variation in the degrees of inclusion that far-right political parties have for queer and trans citizens in their home countries, and the varying strategies of co-optation of support and votes from the LGB Community.