Carmen Celestini – författare

This book provides an empirical analysis, mapping, and assessment of Canadian right‑wing extremist (RWE) groups and their conspiracy theories.While the majority of studies on RWE groups focus on American and European actors, this book critically examines conspiracies disseminated by Canadian actors on different online sites and social media platforms. The authors deploy a mapping metaphor to chart the conspiratorial ideas that RWE groups create and share online. The book also examines the infrastructural terrain that supports mainstream and alternative platforms and the dark monetization structures that act as important conduits for this negative messaging. Theoretically, the study is situated within the concepts of dark social movements where dark participation on dark platforms often occurs. A conceptualization of conspiracy theories is developed by exploring four specific aspects: (1) topics, (2) targets, (3) concerns, and (4) actors. This concept is operationalized by applying it to BitChute and Telegram. The book also offers a historical understanding of different RWE groups and their ideological positions. In addition, it provides an empirical investigation of Google’s autocomplete feature, Amazon books, the Dark Web, and several other alternative social media sites.It will be of interest to researchers of Canadian politics, conspiracy theories, and the far‑right.

This book provides an empirical analysis, mapping, and assessment of Canadian right‑wing extremist (RWE) groups and their conspiracy theories.While the majority of studies on RWE groups focus on American and European actors, this book critically examines conspiracies disseminated by Canadian actors on different online sites and social media platforms. The authors deploy a mapping metaphor to chart the conspiratorial ideas that RWE groups create and share online. The book also examines the infrastructural terrain that supports mainstream and alternative platforms and the dark monetization structures that act as important conduits for this negative messaging. Theoretically, the study is situated within the concepts of dark social movements where dark participation on dark platforms often occurs. A conceptualization of conspiracy theories is developed by exploring four specific aspects: (1) topics, (2) targets, (3) concerns, and (4) actors. This concept is operationalized by applying it to BitChute and Telegram. The book also offers a historical understanding of different RWE groups and their ideological positions. In addition, it provides an empirical investigation of Google’s autocomplete feature, Amazon books, the Dark Web, and several other alternative social media sites.It will be of interest to researchers of Canadian politics, conspiracy theories, and the far‑right.

Carmen Celestini analyzes social media posts from both mainstream and alternative platforms to demonstrate how “anti-woke” extremists in Canada capitalize on perceived injustices to co-opt a fabricated social identity of victimhood, both online and off.Using a networked thematic analysis framework, Celestini examines posts from white, Christian Canadian nationalist and far-right social media accounts to identify tropes of persecution used by these groups to perpetuate regressive, inequitable worldviews. Each chapter analyzes specific hashtags and movements to build a fuller understanding of the ways in which they leverage these tropes to influence political discourse online and, ultimately, mobilize emotions into real-world political action. As extremists weave a dystopian narrative of the nation for those who are cisgender, Christian, and white, Celestini argues, they intentionally stoke sentiments of disenfranchisement and unrest within this demographic, positioning conspiracy theories as the explanation and support for conservative leaders as the solution.By focusing on the Canadian landscape, Constructed Victimhood highlights the growing influence of populist leaders and online rhetoric on the democratic foundations of nations on a global scale, regardless of geographic location or level of development. The danger posed toward marginalized communities and democracy itself demands further study of these movements – before it’s too late.