White Supremacy: Through the Lens of Invisibility and Extremism

Abstract

This thesis analyses White supremacist ideology and the different manifestations of this ideology. In the face of rising White extremist attacks, it is vital to gain an understanding of White supremacy as a whole entity. The historical construction of a racial hierarchy and the subsequent normalisation of this social structure requires thorough comprehension before contemporary examples of White extremist attacks can be studied. The terminological discrepancies within academic literature impede these efforts. The two main research questions concerning this thesis; in what ways does White supremacy continue to manifest in contemporary society? Additionally, how has criminology been complicit in promoting the racist ideology of White supremacy? This thesis draws on academic literature and mainstream news media texts to build a theoretical framework for reading White supremacy. It engages with two central White supremacist concepts, invisibility and extremism, raised by Agozino, (2018b), DiAngelo (2018), Cabrera (2014) Feagin (2013), Owen (2007) Ferber (1999) and Mills (1999). In addition, it offers five case studies of different White supremacist events. These ‘events’, illustrate the power of White supremacists when their values and beliefs align with the State’s (‘Operation 8’), are actioned by violent individuals (Christchurch mosque attacks and the Pittsburgh synagogue attack), or are embedded in the ideologies of ‘social movements’ (the counter-movement, ‘#AllLivesMatter’, on one hand and the ‘alt-right’ on the other). The thesis argues that both ‘invisible’ hegemonic racial order and violent White extremism protects and perpetuates White supremacy. The prevalence of White supremacist discourse in modern society evidences a reproduction of the White colonial social order of Anglo-European settler societies. It concludes with the view that criminology is obliged to investigate White supremacist ideology in all articulations in order to disrupt White supremacy.