Papers by Merle Sontheimer
The continuous rise of far-right content and its increasing public acceptance under the Trump Adm... more The continuous rise of far-right content and its increasing public acceptance under the Trump Administration are clearly observable in online spaces, where antisemitic and racist conspiracy theories are widely spread. The growing number of white supremacist terror attacks in the United States, and recently New Zealand show ideological relations to the progressively hateful online white supremacist movement. This paper analyzes discourses, tactics, and strategies of mainstreaming hatred via pop culture references, memes, and irony on the internet by this ‘New Right’ movement. Moreover, it focusses on Sweden as the primary example which the New Right uses to exploit deep-seated fears and attack multiculturalism. Discourse about Sweden prevails in far-right online forums as an illustration of the alleged danger of multiculturalism. This paper will also address the strategies which the U.S. Alt-Right and ideologically connected affiliations use to perpetuate this image. Correspondingly, this paper discusses how the New Right employs Norse symbolism and idealized images of a fictionalized historical Sweden as evidence for the detrimental effects of immigration in order to propagate a narrative of ultimately violent xenophobia. Additionally, it analyzes which narratives constitute the discourse about Sweden within U.S. media coverage on the New Right and in the mainstream. This is illustrated through the platform given to Swedish extremists on prominent U.S. media channels. Furthermore, this paper seeks to illustrate the personal, ideological, and organizational connections between the Swedish and U.S. far-right in terms of internet usage, rhetoric, and self-presentation. A special focus lies on both online and offline linkages between Swedish and U.S. New Right organizations, groups, and individuals.
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The correlation of declining voter turnout and union membership and density in the US suggests a ... more The correlation of declining voter turnout and union membership and density in the US suggests a causal connection, supported by a consensus on the significance of union effects in the research literature. Voter turnout predominantly declined for socioeconomically disadvantaged strata, raising normative concerns regarding the representativeness of contemporary democracies. Unionization shifting towards higher-income/public-sector individuals exacerbates inequality between voter turnout in different socioeconomic strata, which removes its positive effect for voter mobilization for less affluent groups. Union effectiveness derives from counteracting individualization, creating social networks for less privileged individuals, and enabling them to employ cognitive heuristics, lowering voting costs.
These developments affect democracy on several levels, as unionization also affects non-institutionalized participation. Apart from voting, union members are also "... more likely to be active members in civic groups and express greater willingness to participate in protest" (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013:900). Union effects on non-institutionalized forms of participation are less researched, yet existing research suggests that "[i]nequality tends to be less pronounced with regard to more conventional or institutionalized modes of political participation" (Armingeon & Schädel, 2015:1).
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Papers by Merle Sontheimer
Drafts by Merle Sontheimer
These developments affect democracy on several levels, as unionization also affects non-institutionalized participation. Apart from voting, union members are also "... more likely to be active members in civic groups and express greater willingness to participate in protest" (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013:900). Union effects on non-institutionalized forms of participation are less researched, yet existing research suggests that "[i]nequality tends to be less pronounced with regard to more conventional or institutionalized modes of political participation" (Armingeon & Schädel, 2015:1).
These developments affect democracy on several levels, as unionization also affects non-institutionalized participation. Apart from voting, union members are also "... more likely to be active members in civic groups and express greater willingness to participate in protest" (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013:900). Union effects on non-institutionalized forms of participation are less researched, yet existing research suggests that "[i]nequality tends to be less pronounced with regard to more conventional or institutionalized modes of political participation" (Armingeon & Schädel, 2015:1).