[Commlist] Conference: Reactionary Political Rhetorics and Digital Politics

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

"Reactionary Digital Politics: Ideologies, Rhetorics, Aesthetics” is a 
five-day series of interdisciplinary conversations from June 
21st-25th 2021, to be held online. Full details of the itinerary and a 
registration link can be found below.

Hosted by the University of East Anglia, the series marks the conclusion 
of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project Political 
Ideology, Rhetoric and Aesthetics in the Twenty-First Century: The Case 
of the 'Alt-Right’.For the past three years the project has deployed 
theories and methods from political theory, digital media studies, 
digital sociology, cultural studies and rhetorical studies in order to 
better understand the relationships between digital culture and 
conservative, reactionary, right-wing and far-right politics.


*Registration page*: 
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reactionary-digital-politics-ideologies-rhetorics-aesthetics-tickets-151954763789 
<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reactionary-digital-politics-ideologies-rhetorics-aesthetics-tickets-151954763789>

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This series stages a range of cross-disciplinary dialogues addressing 
the impact of digital culture and platform technologies on the take-up 
and spread of radical-right politics, aesthetics and ideologies. Session 
will address topics such as reactionary ideologies, online extremism, 
conspiracy theory, reactionary rhetorics and aesthetics, and the 
politics of digital platforms. Hosted by the University of East Anglia 
and Birkbeck, University of London, the series is part of the UK Arts 
and Humanities Research Council-funded project /Political Ideology, 
Rhetoric and Aesthetics in the Twenty-First Century: The Case of the 
‘Alt-Right’/.

*All sessions will take place at 5pm UK time (UTC+1)*


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This discussion will focus on the history and development of radical 
right-wing ideologies in Europe and America, and how they have been 
taken up in contemporary online and offline politics. In particular we 
will reflect on key themes prominent in online political subcultures, 
such as ‘the red pill’, and key themes such as inequality, nationalism 
and gender.

*Participants*

*Jean-Francois Drolet* (Queen Mary, University of London, author of 
articles on political philosophy, neoconservatism and the relationship 
between European and American right-wing movements)

*Eve Gianoncelli* (University of Oxford, former fellow of Columbia 
University, researching European conservatism and antifeminism past and 
present)

*Mark Sedgwick* (Aarhus University, historian whose research interests 
include Islam, Traditionalism, radicalization, and the history of 
terrorism, editor of /Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New 
Threat to Liberal Democracy/)

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In this session we will look at the organisation and political strategy 
of groups and movements on the far right, discussing how white 
supremacist and racist organisations operate online, their future in the 
post-Trump era and the politics of race and gender they promote.

*Participants*

*
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*Bethan Johnson* (Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right, 
specialist in terrorist and extremist movements from the Cold War era to 
the present)

*Annie Kelly* (researcher and journalist, specialising in the study of 
online antifeminism and conspiracy, UK correspondent for the /QAnon 
Anonymous/ podcast)

*Matthew N. Lyons* (author of /Insurgent Supremacists: The US Far 
Right’s Challenge to State and Empire/, expert in right-wing politics 
and regular contributor to the radical antifascist blog /Three Way Fight/)

*Alexandra Minna Stern* (University of Michigan, historian of ethnicity 
and eugenics,  author of /Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the 
Alt-Right is Warping the American Imagination/)


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A discussion of the techniques of propaganda and persuasion deployed by 
the online right, including the forms and styles of language and 
imagery, the influence of meme culture, vlogging, and gaming.

*Participants*

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*Alfie Bown* (Royal Holloway, University of London, author of 
/Playstation Dreamworld /and /In the Event of Laugher/ and editor of 
/Post-Memes: Seizing the Memes of Production/)

*Leslie A. Hahner* (Baylor University, co-author of /Make America Meme 
Again: The Rhetoric of the Alt-Right/)

*Alex Newhouse* (Middlebury Institute Center on Terrorism, Extremism, 
and Counterterrorism, specialist on right-wing extremism, religious 
fundamentalism, online extremism)

*Marc Tuters* (University of Amsterdam, member of Open Intelligence Lab 
and author of articles on 4chan, memetic antagonism, and the deep 
vernacular web)


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This session will ask how the features and affordances of digital 
platforms shape political cultures, how their design may be facilitating 
reactionary radicalisation, and whether those calling for moderation and 
regulation are taking aim at the right targets.

*Participants*

*Deen Freelon* (University of North Carolina, media scholar, data 
scientist, and software developer, author of over 30 articles, book 
chapters and public reports focusing primarily on political expression 
through digital media)

*Bharath Ganesh* (University of Groningen, political geographer focusing 
on new media, political communication, and cultures of hate)

*Paolo Gerbaudo* (King’s College London, author of /Tweets and the 
Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism/ and /The Digital Party: 
Political Organisation and Online Democracy/)

*Jessica Johnson* (University of Washington, anthropologist specialising 
in religion, radicalisation and reactionary masculinities)


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This final 'keynote conversation’ brings together experts in vernacular 
digital culture and in the political history and ideology of 
neoliberalism to discuss the culture, history, politics and political 
economy of misinformation today.

*Whitney Phillips* has been highly influential in shaping understandings 
of online communities, networked communication, and the relationships 
between digital subcultures and mainstream media. Co-authored with Ryan 
Milner, her recent book /You Are Here: A Field Guide for Navigating 
Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted Media 
Landscape/, draws on theories of ecology and environment to propose 
means of combating misinformation, antagonism and the amplification of 
toxic political ideas.

*Quinn Slobodian* has made landmark contributions to the disciplines of 
political theory and intellectual history. As the author of /Globalists: 
The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism/ and the co-editor of 
/Nine Lives of Neoliberalism/ his work has been instrumental in mapping 
the contemporary political landscape. In recent publications he has 
addressed the intellectual roots of online reactionary movements and 
popular political responses to the coronavirus pandemic.


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