Cyberculture and the endurance of white power activism

Pete Simi, Robert Futrell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Scopus citations

Abstract

Drawing from ethnographic and documentary data, this article examines the character of the social spaces that white power movement (WPM) activists create on the Internet and the linkages to their real world activism. Specifically, we explain how white power activists use cyberspace as a free space to create and sustain movement culture and coordinate collective action. The WPM's cyberpresence intersects with and enhances their real world activities by offering multiple opportunities for access and coordination. Virtual contact with the WPM community offers members social support, companionship, and a sense of belonging to a community of Aryan believers. We argue that real and virtual spaces are not completely separate spheres but rather closely inter-twined. Consequently, virtual spaces provide an opportunity to parallel and extend the type of interaction present in real world free spaces that are so critical to nurturing and sustaining white power movement culture.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)115-142
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Political and Military Sociology
Volume34
Issue number1
StatePublished - Jun 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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