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Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic Discourse of the British Far-Right on Facebook

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Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic Discourse of the British Far-right on Facebook Doctoral Thesis By Shani Burke 1 Abstract This thesis uses critical discursive psychology to analyse anti-Semitic and Islamophobic discourse on the Facebook pages of two far-right organisations: Britain First and the English Defence League. Using the Charlie Hebdo attack as a time frame, I examine how the far-right manage their identity and maintain rationality online, as well as how users on Facebook respond to the far-right. This thesis demonstrates how Britain First and the English Defence League present themselves as ‘reasonable’ in their anti-Semitic and anti- Islamic stance following the Charlie Hebdo shooting. Ultimately, I bring together the study of fascist discourse and political discourse on social media using critical discursive psychology, in a novel synthesis. The Charlie Hebdo shooting and the shooting at the kosher supermarket in Paris in January 2015 (as well as other attacks by members of the Islamic State) have led to Muslims being seen as a threat to Britain, and thus Muslims have been exposed to Islamophobic attacks and racial abuse. The current climate is a challenging situation for the far-right, as they are presented with the dilemma of appearing as rational and even mainstream, whilst nevertheless adopting an anti-Islamic stance. The analysis focuses on how Britain First and the English Defence League used the shooting at the Kosher supermarket to align with Jews in order to construct them as under threat from Islam, and promote its anti-Islamic stance. I also analyse visual communication used by Britain First to provide ‘evidence’ that Britain First supported Jewish communities. Discourse from Facebook users transitioned from supportive towards Jews, to questioning the benefits that Jews brought to Britain, and expressing Holocaust denial. Furthermore, I discuss how other far-right politicians in Europe such as Geert Wilders from the Dutch Party for Freedom, portrayed himself as a reasonable politician in the anti- Islamic stance he has taken in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack. Findings are discussed in light of how the far-right communicate about the Charlie Hebdo shooting whilst maintaining a reasonable stance when projecting anti-Semitic and Islamophobic ideology, and how such discourse can encompass hate speech. I demonstrate how critical discursive psychology can be used to show how various conflicting social identities are constructed and interact with each other online. This thesis shows how the 2 far-right use aligning with Jews as means to present Muslims as problematic, and how such alignment has resulted in the marginalisation of both Jews and Muslims. Keywords: Facebook, Far-right, Critical Discursive Psychology, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia 3 Acknowledgements Firstly, to my supervisor, Professor Paul Drew. Thank you for taking me on and making sure I got this done. Your advice, kindness, and pearls of wisdom have been invaluable. I would also like to thank my second supervisor, Dr Cristian Tileagă, for your support and encouragement. I thank Dr Simon Goodman, without whom I would not have got this far. Thank you for your support from day one, for giving me so many opportunities, and for still offering me guidance today. I would like to thank the staff in the Social Sciences department at Loughborough University for the teaching and research opportunities, particularly Professor Dominic Wring and Professor Sabina Mihelj. A special thanks to Professor Mick Billig and to Dr John Richardson for their inspiring work that has shaped my own research. To Deirdre Lombard and Denise Wade for always being there to help and have a friendly chat. I thank Loughborough University for awarding me the Glendonbrook Doctoral Scholarship to fund this PhD. To my friends at Loughborough: Emily, Evi, Herminder, Tom, and my office buddy Kat, for being there to share a good old moan/board game/social/cocktail (delete as appropriate). To the DARGers for your enjoyable company and insightful comments on my data. And a thought for Mea and Sunida, whose ‘cyber-support’ kept me going. Thanks to Helen for the cocktail evenings and endless supplies of gin. To Katie, for your lifelong friendship and never failing to make me laugh. To my siblings: Daniel, Leanne, Gemma and Ben. Four people I could not imagine my life without. To ‘the boys’, David and Jonah. Nothing got me through the hard times more than hearing about you reaching new milestones. And the new recruit Isaac, whose cuddles provided the best distraction from editing. Thanks to my fairy Godmother Jannette, for being just a message or a train journey away. Distance means nothing when you’re faaamily. To the loving memory of my Grandparents, Mary-Anne, Patrick, Anne and Richard. I thank you for instilling in me the values of faith and hard work. To my OH, Mirko: for helping me to become ‘me’ again, for endless cups of tea, and for being my lobster. What would I do without you? 4 Finally, this thesis is dedicated to Máthair agus Athair. I could not have persevered without your practical, financial, and emotional support, you have been my anchor. Sometimes, I think you are me heart. Material based on the research undertaken for this thesis has been published in part as: Burke, S. (2017). “Please protect the Jews”: Ideology and Concealment in the Britain First Solidarity Patrol. Journal of Language, Aggression and Conflict 5 (1), 134- 155. 5 Table of Contents Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ 4 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................... 6 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 10 1.1 January 2015 Paris attacks: “Three Days of Terror” .............................................................. 10 1.2 Structure of the thesis ............................................................................................................ 12 2. Literature Review ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 16 2.2: The Far-Right in the UK ......................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 23 3. Discursive Psychology and the far-right ....................................................................................... 24 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 24 3.2 Origins of Discursive Psychology ............................................................................................ 24 3.3 Critical Discursive Psychology ................................................................................................ 29 3.4 Discursive Research on Prejudice and Racism ....................................................................... 31 3.5 Far-right Rhetoric ................................................................................................................... 38 3.6 Anti-Semitism ......................................................................................................................... 40 3.7 Islamophobia .......................................................................................................................... 41 3.8 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 44 4: Computer-Mediated Communication and rationale for research ............................................... 45 4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 45 4.2 Origins of Computer-Mediated Communication ................................................................... 45 4.3 Facebook ................................................................................................................................ 47 4.4 Far-right discourse on CMC .................................................................................................... 48 4.5 CMC and Extremist Discourse ................................................................................................ 49 4.6. Rational and Research Aims .................................................................................................. 51 5. Methodology and Data Collection ............................................................................................... 53 5.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 53 5.2 Analytical Approach ............................................................................................................... 54 5.3 Data Collection ......................................................................................................................
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