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From the Red Pill to 'White Genocide': an Ethnography of the Alt-Right In

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From the Red Pill to 'White Genocide': an Ethnography of the Alt-Right In From the Red Pill to ‘White Genocide’: An Ethnography of the Alt-Right in Montreal Jay Marquis-Manicom A Thesis in The Department of Sociology and Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Social and Cultural Anthropology) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada September 2019 ii CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: John Manicom (Jay Marquis-Manicom) Entitled: From the Red Pill to ‘White Genocide’: An Ethnography of the Alt-Right in Montreal and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Arts in Social and Cultural Anthropology complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Dr. Martin French, Chair Dr. Amy Swiffen, Examiner Dr. Kregg Hetherington, Examiner Dr. Marc Lafrance, Thesis Supervisor Approved by: Dr. Amy Swiffen, Chair of Department Date of defence: July 15th, 2019 iii Abstract Over the past decade the alt-right has grown in prominence, yet scholarly research on the movement remains scanty. This ethnography of an alt-right group in Montreal aims to help fill the gap in the scholarship. I examine the unique ethical and methodological challenges involved in studying the movement and map the alt-right in relation to the far right more generally, using the political ecosystem of Quebec to illustrate far-right sub-groupings. I build on ethnographic data to theorize about masculinities within the movement with a particular focus on gendered hierarchy- building among movement adherents. I explore the connections between the alt-right and online male-supremacism, concluding that male-supremacism constitutes one path into the alt-right. Internal divisions within the alt-right are mapped and theorized as two broad camps in dialogic tension. These camps are understood to be split between more liberal and more fascist perspectives. Ethnographic data is used to illustrate these tensions as they played out in the Montreal group. The liberal/fascist split is explored with reference to different class positions among informants, and each camp is examined in historical and geographic context. I conclude with a reflexive exploration of the motivations of alt-right adherents and a series of recommendations moving forward. iii iv Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ 1 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2 2. Ethics and Methods ................................................................................................................ 9 The Ethics of ‘Studying Up’ ................................................................................................................ 10 Activist Ethnography ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Critical Ethnography .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Hostile Ethnography .......................................................................................................................................... 17 Methods ................................................................................................................................................. 21 3. The Far Right and the Place of the Alt-Right Within It .................................................... 27 Nomenclature ........................................................................................................................................ 27 What is the Far Right? ......................................................................................................................... 32 The Dissident and Extreme Right in Québec ..................................................................................................... 33 Right-Wing Populism in Québec ....................................................................................................................... 40 The Limits of the Centrist/Extremist Model ...................................................................................................... 43 Terminology in this Thesis ................................................................................................................................. 45 What is the Alt-Right? ......................................................................................................................... 49 4. Men and Masculinity in the Alt-Right ................................................................................ 57 The Roundtable..................................................................................................................................... 57 Masculinity as Homosocial Enactment in the Alt-Right ................................................................... 76 Alt-Right Conceptualizations of Internal Masculine Social Hierarchies......................................... 79 Alphas, Betas and the Manosphere .................................................................................................................... 80 Signaling Theory and ‘White Sharia’ ................................................................................................................. 87 High-Quality versus Low-Quality Men ........................................................................................................... 100 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 113 5. Secular Male-Supremacism: PUA and the Red Pill as Conduits to the Alt-Right .......... 122 Taking the Red Pill ............................................................................................................................. 123 Neoreaction.......................................................................................................................................... 126 Demographics...................................................................................................................................... 129 Enemies ................................................................................................................................................ 130 Outlooks ............................................................................................................................................... 131 Red Pill to White Genocide ................................................................................................................ 132 6. The Dialogics of the Alt-Right ........................................................................................... 135 A Meeting in the Rain ........................................................................................................................ 135 The Character of Tensions Within the Alt-Right ............................................................................ 139 v Cryptos and Stormers: Strategic Struggles Within the Alt-Right ................................................. 146 Concealing Your Power Level: Philippe on Identitarianism and Respectability Politics ............ 158 A Diversity of Tactics: Charity, Terrorism and the Limits of the Big Tent .................................. 167 7. Class, Race and Capitalism Within the Alt-Right ............................................................. 173 The Incompatibility of Fascism and Liberal Capitalism ................................................................ 176 Esoteric Fascism: Julius Evola on Caste, Race, and the Spiritual Aristocracy ............................ 186 Christian Fascism: Bernard’s Take on Satan, Jews, and Spiritual Elitism .................................. 192 “Red-Pilled on the JQ”: Roman’s Bourgeois Liberal Racism ........................................................ 201 8. ‘Leukocratic’ Liberalism, Pathological Normalcy, and the Future of the Alt-Right...... 206 Pathological Normalcy ....................................................................................................................... 206 Leukocratic Liberalism ...................................................................................................................... 211 Canada and Immigration ................................................................................................................... 214 Dual Positions ...................................................................................................................................... 217 9. Motivations, Time Travel and the End of the World ........................................................ 219 Alienation and the Alt-Right ............................................................................................................. 228 Time Travel ......................................................................................................................................... 233 10. Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 237 References .................................................................................................................................
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