Abstract
Exploring online criticisms of the “take the knee” protest during “Euro 2020”, this article examines how alt- and far-right conspiracies were both constructed and communicated via the social media platform, Twitter. By providing a novel exploration of alt-right conspiracies during an international football tournament, a qualitative thematic analysis of 1,388 original tweets relating to Euro 2020 was undertaken. The findings reveal how, in criticisms levelled at both “wokeism” and the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-white criticisms of the “take the knee” protest were embroiled in alt-right conspiracies that exposed an assumed Cultural Marxist, “woke agenda” in the tournament’s organisation and mainstream media coverage. In conclusion, it is argued that conspiratorial discourses, associated with the alt-right, provided a framework through which the protest could be understood. This emphasises how the significance of conspiracy functions to promote the wider dissemination of alt-right ideology across popular cultural contexts, such as sport.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2036-2059 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Ethnic and Racial Studies |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 10 |
Early online date | 5 Oct 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published online - 5 Oct 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords
- sport
- racism
- woke
- conspiracy
- alt-right
- Take the knee
- anti-white racism
- Conspiracy
- Black lives matter
- online hate
- Football