The Ultra-Right: Media, Discourses, and Communicative Strategies| “Time to Abandon Swedish Women”: Discursive Connections Between Misogyny and White Supremacy in Sweden

Abstract

This article explores the discursive linkages between violent misogyny and violent right-wing extremism in the popular Swedish online discussion forum Flashback, which affords anonymous and relatively unmoderated commenting. Empirically, it focuses on the articulations of misogyny and anti-feminism mapped onto extreme right ideology including white supremacism in user comments posted across 16 Flashback threads. To analyze the extensive data set, we first drew on a collocation analysis of user comments (N = 20,359) scraped from a strategic selection of threads. From this sample we chose 36 combinations to be considered for a closer reading. In the second analytical step, critical discourse analysis coupled with the Essex School’s logics approach helped us unpack the logics of conspiracy and male entitlement, as well as the fantasmatic projections of Swedish women as both “race traitors” and “victims” at the heart of extreme right discourse in and beyond Sweden today.