Understanding the Impact of Domestic Extremist Organizations Narratives of Revolutionary Patriotism on US Military Audiences
Abstract
Domestic extremist organizations (DEOs) and online communities associated with extremist antigovernment view Domestic extremist organizations (DEOs) and online communities associated with extremists employ language especially attuned to individuals who value patriotism and US-military service, the language of #revolutionary patriotism.# Revolutionary patriotism refers to the idea-that support for the US constitution requires anti-government violent action, flipping our conventional-understanding of patriotism on its head. What we call #narratives of revolutionary patriotism# are created through communication and social practices that redefine acts of harm to others, defiance of laws, and anti-government violence that are normally considered significant violations of pledges to defend the US Constitution and American democracy as legitimate acts of self-defense, community defense, and preservation of the American way of life. As in other cases of extremist groups (e.g., Montell 2021), the language of revolutionary patriotism defines the boundaries of a community operating under special norms and obligations in mortal opposition to a clear enemy, in this case, the US government. While revolutionary patriotism is a narrative that can be consumed and acted upon by any individual, its ideological overlap with the oath sworn by members of the US military could increase the risk of ideologically motivated anti-government extremism among those with service in the US military. Military audiences exposed to DEO language and propaganda narratives can be divided into three main groups#those who are seeking to become members of the US military, those who have served in the active force, and those who have left the force after military service. Each of these different audiences are likely influenced by a complex set of offline community and online recruitment appeals, but the specific mechanisms and associated outcomes remain unclear.-This proposed three-year study will use rigorous qualitative and quantitative analyses based on-the tools of empirical, ethnographic, and experimental social science to advance our understanding of the language domestic extremist groups use to propagate their messages in online narratives, the-susceptibility of different audiences who are attracted to and have served in the military to this languagenand propaganda narratives, and the specific factors that lead some individuals within these audiences to support DEOs and become attracted to collective political violence in the United States more generally.-Our goal is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the absolute and relative effect of offline-community-level factors that impact how and why different military audiences react to online video-narratives. We will use ethnographic conversations and representative surveys to analyze the effect of online domestic extremist group narratives and the effect of offline community factors and context that drive the predisposition of these audiences to support DEOs and collective political violence-independently of online DEO recruitment efforts. Improved understanding of the language of-revolutionary patriotism, offline community-drivers, and overall conditions of receptivity to DEO#s-recruitment appeals will contribute to a capability to develop tailored communications and other strategies for successful counter-domestic terrorism efforts by the Department of Defense.-
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312126
Entities
People
- Robert Pape
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Chicago