CHAPTER FIVE - CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Research Question

This study began two years ago as an exploration of phenomena observed in the local community. Why were there so many flags and symbols around town, on yards, houses, and even vehicles? Additionally, what did it mean when they appeared to be removed, only to go back up a few days later? It happened so much that it begged the question: was something being communicated? This led to research into the far right and development of the research question: how do far right online and offline spaces work in tandem and how does imagery facilitate this process? The hypothesis was that the spaces work together, and imagery helps spur participation and solidarity.

Cyberspace, Physical Space, and Imagery

A visual and audio analysis of 100 videos posted to Parler by participants of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, revealed that these two spaces not only were intertwined as previous research (Simi & Futrell, 2006) has shown, but the two spaces seemed to meld into one. The number of posts, just to Parler, not even including posts to other social media platforms, and the prolific use of imagery illustrated how the physical space being occupied by far right actors was concurrently existing in the virtual world. This analysis also demonstrated the rift in the far right between those who support law enforcement and those who are antigovernment. Another important finding was the presence of American First pushing their anti-globalism, anti-immigrant ideology.

Study Limitations

This study has several limitations. The content under analysis was sourced from a third party, ProPublica. While ProPublica is a trusted public resource, this study was confined to videos ProPublica previously sorted and found relevant to the events of January 6, 2021. This analysis would have also benefitted from first person ethnographic work at the Capitol on January 6. That was beyond the scope of this paper however, and it could have been a dangerous undertaking. Another improvement would have been to interview and send surveys to participants to hear their perspective of events. This study was also conducted using non sophisticated computer equipment and software that affected the level of analysis possible. Advanced computer programs that can do image recognition would have improved the analysis.

Recommendations

Given the research limitations discussed above, more research into this topic is essential. As extremism scholar Cynthia Miller-Idriss notes, “the visual nature of online spaces might suggest that their use will only accelerate in the years to come” (2020, p. 133). With the proliferation of websites that offer far right imagery for sale, the use of social media platforms, including the creation of new platforms to host actors and groups who have been kicked from mainstream sites, and the continued political polarization in the United States, it is likely that more incidents will occur that will provide the opportunity for further analysis. Hopefully, the violence and threat to American democracy witnessed on January 6 will not be repeated. Recent research by J.M. Berger (2021), however, illustrates that violence from the far right might get worse. The threat from accelerationists is real and Berger finds a current theme among the far right is self-criticism: they are not doing enough, acceleration is key to create societal unrest and collapse (Berger, 2021). Also concerning is the participation of law enforcement and active duty members of the military, which seems to be a problem both in the United States and Germany. The U.S. military has taken a few steps to address the issue and Germany has been dealing with it for well over a year.

January 6, 2021, like Charlottesville in 2017, has led to some disfunction within far right groups. The alt-right took a hit after Charlottesville’s Unite the Right Rally and the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys appear to be negatively affected as a result of the events at the Capitol. Members of both groups have been arrested and it looks increasingly like some individuals may turn and provide evidence against their cohorts. Two important lessons learned from the recent uptick in far right scholarship, however, are the far right may lay low, but they do not disappear, and they have mastered the use of the internet.

APPENDIX A GOOGLE FORM

APPENDIX B SPREADSHEET OF RESPONSES