This project’s purpose is twofold: (A) the production of critical knowledge about violent racism; and (B) a deepened understanding of actors’ motivations by analyzing affective dimensions of ultranationalism. Our purpose would be fulfilled by examining the correlations between organized and unorganized hate crimes via four specific aims: 1) mapping attacks against refugee housing, Romani camps, and different categories of minority Swedes, 2) analyses of discussions within and between racist and ultranationalist forums on the Internet and in social media, 3) a study of the perpetrators and their influences, 4) a qualitative study of racist and ultranationalist arguments, narratives, and visions.

The project synergistically connects leading fascism researchers at Uppsala University with groundbreaking social media researchers at Umeå University, who will draw and build upon each other's expertise. The empirical material consists of police reports and investigations, interviews with ideologues and perpetrators, ethnographic fieldwork data, and spoken/written texts from blogs, Twitter, online news outlets, Facebook groups, discussion forums, and YouTube channels. Using multiple methods, we combine ethnographic and linguistic approaches such as Network Text Analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis.

Violent racism threatens individual citizens and democratic society as a whole. However, the huge knowledge gaps in this area make this project both timely and necessary.

Finansiär: Vetenskapsrådet (ca 4 000 000 kr).

Projektdeltagare: Mattias Gardell (CEMFOR, Uppsala universitet), Heléne Lööw (historia, Uppsala universitet), Simon Lindgren och Samuel Merrill (DIGSUM/UmU)