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Flashback As a Rhetorical Online Battleground

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Flashback As a Rhetorical Online Battleground http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a paper published in Social Media + Society. Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Blomberg, H., Stier, J. (2019) Flashback as a rhetorical online battleground: Debating the (dis)guise of the Nordic Resistance Movement Social Media + Society https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118823336 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:du-29134 SMSXXX10.1177/2056305118823336Social Media <span class="symbol" cstyle="Mathematical">+</span> SocietyBlomberg and Stier 823336research-article20192019 Article Social Media + Society January-March 2019: 1 –10 Flashback as a Rhetorical Online © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions Battleground: Debating the (Dis)guise DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118823336 10.1177/2056305118823336 of the Nordic Resistance Movement journals.sagepub.com/home/sms Helena Blomberg1 and Jonas Stier2 Abstract The right-wing Swedish Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) is increasingly active on social media. Using discursive psychology, this text explores the rhetorical organization of text and rhetorical resources used on the Swedish online forum Flashback. The aim is to reveal and problematize truth claims about NRM made by antagonists and protagonists. Questions are (1) how and what do NRM antagonists and protagonists convey in Flashback posts about NRM, and its ideology and members? (2) how do NRM antagonists and protagonists make truth claims about NRM in Flashback posts? The empirical material consisting of 1546 Flashback posts analyzed to identify typical discussions on “NMR’s true nature”; accomplished social actions stemming from the posts. Findings show that the Flashback thread can be understood as being a rhetorical battle that concerns the “truth” about NRM, where a variety of rhetorical resources are used to render statements credibility and those involved legitimacy. Keywords extremism, online fora, Flashback, discourse, truth claims Introduction debates have thus far not been the focus of academic analy- sis. For this reason, this article reports on a study of 1546 In 2014, the Neonazi Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) Flashback posts in the discussion thread “All about NRM” was granted a mandate in the local government assembly in that were written by critics; people on the far left, sympathiz- the Swedish municipality of Ludvika located in the region of ers, and members between the years 2008 and 2017. By mak- Dalarna (Eng., Dalecarlia). This fact and more recently the ing truth claims, the authors of these posts debate the true local, regional, and Swedish elections in September 2018 nature of NRM, thus risking the credibility, legitimacy, and have increased both NRM’s level of activity and their visibil- recognition of NRM. It is an ongoing digital debate where ity in Swedish political discourse. antagonists use rhetorical resources to contest NRM’s self- In its current shape, NRM rests on an almost century-long projected image, at the same time as the protagonists use rhe- history of Swedish Nazi and Neonazi activism. In particular, torical resources to justify their statements and to contest the it is an offspring of the Swedish Neonazi movements in the antagonists’ notions about NRM. As such, the article uses the 1980s and 1990s (Lööw, 2015). NRM is a relatively small labels antagonist and protagonist since the focus is the debate neo-Nazi organization (estimates suggest it to have less than and the truth claims, and not the individuals themselves. 1000 members) and has been (in accordance with Swedish Social media serves as an important platform for activists law) registered as a political party since 2015 (Lööw, 2015). and movements to facilitate mobilization and recruitment To attract members and sympathizers, public demonstrations (Cammaerts, 2012; Conway, 2017). NRM’s website Nordfront and local town rallies, as well as intensified presence on social media have been important tools (Kaati, 2017). Over the years, the media debate on NRM has been heated 1Mälardalen University, Sweden and has not revolved merely around its ideology or political 2Dalarna University, Sweden aspirations, but rather around its “true roots” and around Corresponding Author: what is described as its “true nature” or guise. Much of this Helena Blomberg, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen debate has taken place on Internet fora such as the Swedish University, SE-721 23 Västerås, Sweden. website Flashback and not in traditional media. Such online Email: [email protected] Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). 2 Social Media + Society reports on what they call alternative news (conveying distrust the way in which NRM should be portrayed and perceived in to mainstream media and supporting NRM’s ideology), their computer-mediated discourse (CMD). own activities (e.g., the distribution of flyers), history, and CMD is the communication produced when individuals lifestyle, and they webcast municipal council meetings in interact while using a digital communication device. CMD Dalarna (a rural county in Sweden). These activities aim to varies depending on the properties of the computer-meditated create a commonly known and favorable narrative about the communication (CMC) systems used, and on the social and movement, which is important for NRM’s self-image and cultural context that embeds the Flashback thread (Herring & cohesion (Ekman, 2018; Kaati, 2017; see also Bratten, 2005). Androutsopoulos, 2015). Research shows how social media (re)produces right- wing extremist discourse in online fora. In these fora, extrem- Rationale, Aim, and Research ist groups use hate speech and typically target migrants and Questions refugees in order to both mobilize the movement through the recruitment of new members and organize street rallies Drawing from discursive psychology (Edwards & Potter, (Baumgarten, 2017; Ekman, 2018; Kreis, 2017). Thus, 1992; Potter, 1996), this text explores the rhetorical resources Nordfront functions as a site for mobilizing the movement by used in the Flashback thread “Everything about NRM.” The calling on members/sympathizers to share photographs with chosen approach focuses on the rhetorical organization of NRM’s political messages on social media platforms such as text and talk, that is, how discourses frame the telling context Facebook, Instagram, and Flashback (Ekman, 2018). In and the identities of individuals and make sense of events addition, research has been done on cloaked websites that and the way in which words can serve as social actions disguise political agendas and propaganda questioning the (Edwards & Potter, 1992; Potter, 1996). Language use is truth in terms of historical fact—e.g., the denial of the viewed as a social practice—as soon as you speak, you do Holocaust (Daniels, 2009). something (e.g., praise, accuse, argue, entertain, patronize, The use of extremist discourse, which characterizes the or contest) within a given context (Billig, 1987/1996; online conversations between members and sympathizers, Edwards & Potter, 1992; Potter, 1996). comprises narratives about personal experiences, rumors of In this article, the discursive approach involves an analy- criminal refugees (often accused of rape), or claims that refu- sis of how the parties who are cited relate to the extremist gees “do not belong here”—conversations that “construct them discourse when participating in a “digital tug of war” while as others” (Angouri & Wodak, 2014; Baumgarten, 2017; they make truth claims about NRM. The aim is to reveal and Ekman, 2018; Kreis, 2017). These discursive strategies or rhe- problematize different truth claims that antagonists and pro- torical resources do not merely justify and legitimatize the tagonists make that relate to NRM and its ideology, mem- exclusion of or racism toward these “others” but create a sense bers, and legitimacy—that is, discerning the rhetorical of “we-ness” and identity among members and sympathizers as resources that antagonists and protagonists use to justify well as the movement they represent (Atton, 2006; Campbell, their statements. The following questions are in focus: 2006; Ekman, 2018; Kreis, 2017; Wodak & Reisigl, 2015). Furthermore, other research has focused on the use of rhe- •• How and what do NRM antagonists and protagonists torical resources used to contest extremist discourse. Such convey in Flashback posts about NRM, and its ideol- studies have explored the use of humor—specifically, “sat- ogy and members? ire” and “ridicule”—to counter extremist narratives (Goodall, •• How do NRM antagonists and protagonists make Cheong, Fleischer, & Corman, 2012) or to target collective truth claims about NRM in Flashback posts? extremist narratives with counternarratives suggesting alter- native discourses, which gradually can lead to different iden- By answering these questions, this text will contribute to tities (Archetti, 2015; Cheong & Halverson, 2010). Then an
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