Insurgency on the populist right: A case study of the contemporary United States patriot movement.
Item
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Title
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Insurgency on the populist right: A case study of the contemporary United States patriot movement.
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Identifier
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AAI3213159
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identifier
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3213159
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Creator
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Mason, Lorna L.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Frances Fox Piven
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Date
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2006
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Sociology, General | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies
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Abstract
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This dissertation is a case study of the patriot movement. The patriot movement is an umbrella term that has been deployed to conceptually unite many diverse groups that espouse an anti-government ideology. Patriots encompass groups as diverse as constitutionalists, survivalists, home school practitioners, hemp activists, tax protestors, militia members, and common law court activists. Using archival data alongside ethnographic methods this research shows that there is a surprising diversity among those who united around a patriot movement identity. Using cultural studies, political sociology and social movement theories, I argue that the patriots are a contemporary expression of U.S. populism and a response to real conditions of political powerlessness. As populists they are not necessarily fascist, white supremacist, or Anti-Semitic (although they can be). Chapter one introduces the reader to five respondents who call themselves patriots and shows through their narratives that the patriot identity is more than just a movement identity but a way of being in the world. It influences beliefs as well as actions in varied aspects of patriot lives---not just their activist life. Chapters four through seven explore the patriot identity further explaining some of its cultural and structural supports, including discourses of privilege---whiteness, masculinity, and American individualism combined with counter-systemic discourses about governance---republican populism, conspiracy and morality. In chapter eight I turn to the often puzzling array of patriot tactics and explain how they logically flow from patriot ideology and identity as discussed in the preceding chapters. Methodologically the research depended on ethnographic methods. I interviewed 22 respondents in five central Arizona towns. These respondents were associated with three different patriot organizations. I spent the equivalent of six weeks in Arizona over the period of two years. Ethnographic work was supplemented with archival research on the patriot movement. Archival data came primarily from the Anti-Defamation League's Columbus, Ohio office shepherded by Mark Pitcavage. Interviews and documents were analyzed for dominant themes. For the interviews the dominant themes were the patriot's economic and political critique, religion, republicanism and conspiracy.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
