eprintid: 146
rev_number: 11
eprint_status: archive
userid: 30
dir: disk0/00/00/01/46
datestamp: 2018-02-05 10:47:10
lastmod: 2018-02-05 11:23:23
status_changed: 2018-02-05 10:47:10
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Cusack, Martin
title: The Life Cycle of an Alt-Right Meme: A Radio documentary exploring the experiences of Irish teenagers using social networking sites (SNS) and the impact it has on their social and emotional development.
ispublished: submitted
divisions: MAJ
full_text_status: public
keywords: alt-right, radio documentary, social networking, meme, SNS
abstract: The subject of this documentary is the emergence of the alt-right political philosophy over the years 2016 and 2017, and how it has achieved global infamy through its use of memes, irreverent shock tactics and provocative stunts. The so-called “movement” is a phenomenon 
which has manifested itself amid a rising tide of right-wing populism across the West, and suddenly came to international attention in the run-up to the 2016 American presidential, allying itself with the successful campaign of Donald Trump. 
 
The alt-right movement has successfully attracted a demographic primarily composed of alienated, mainly male internet users into its sphere of influence by adopting and popularising an idiosyncratic jargon and iconography (including the use of memes) to add an irreverent 
flavour to their often virulently xenophobic, anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric. The most prominent of these memes is that of Pepe, a frog with a humanoid body co-opted by the alt right as the bizarre mascot of their movement. By telling the story of Pepe's journey from 
harmless cartoon figure to hate symbol I hope to also tell the story of the alt-right movement and its parallel journey from obscurity to international attention. 
 
This documentary has a number of different facets pertaining to the phenomenon of memes and the sudden rise in popularity of the alt-right. I will investigate the roots of this “movement” in the chaotic and profane world of message-boards such as 4chan, how it attached itself to the campaign of Donald Trump, and how its irreverent streak conceals a much darker reality. I will conclude by asking what strategies the left has to counter this disturbing trend.
date: 2017
date_type: submitted
institution: Griffith College
department: Faculty of Journalism and Media Communications
thesis_type: masters
referencetext: Allen, Jonathan and Parnes, Amy. Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign. Crown Books, 2017.

Betz, Hans George . “The New Politics of Resentment - Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe”. www.jstor.org/stable/422034?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Coleman, Gabriella. Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy. Verso, 1st Edition, 2014.

Glatthorn, Allan A. and Joyner, Randy L. 2002, Writing the winning thesis or dissertation: a stepby-step guide. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

Green, Joshua. The Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency. Penguin Press, 2017.

Michael, Professor George. Westfield State University. Academic article on website theconversation.com - http://theconversation.com/the-seeds-of-the-alt-right-americasemergent-right-wing-populist-movement-69036

Monbiot, George. “Our greatest peril? Screening ourselves off from reality. Immersed in life online like the followers of 4chan and PewDiePie, we start to imagine that nothing matters - even racism, misogyny and resurgent fascism” - (Article in The Guardian, 01/03/17)

Nagle, Angela. Kill All Normies, Zero Books, 2017.

Potok, Mark. (Senior Fellow Southern Poverty Law Centre) www.splcenter.org/fightinghate/intelligence-report/2016/year-hate-and-extremism.

RTE Radio 1 - The Culture Show (dated 29 May 2017). Fionn Davenport interview with Angela Nagle.

Today FM. The Matt Cooper Show (dated 7 January 2017). Matt Cooper interview with Nicholas

Pell.

The Irish Times Women's Podcast. (dated 10 July 2017) Hosted by Kathy Sheridan.
citation:   Cusack, Martin  (2017) The Life Cycle of an Alt-Right Meme: A Radio documentary exploring the experiences of Irish teenagers using social networking sites (SNS) and the impact it has on their social and emotional development.  Masters thesis, Griffith College.   
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/146/1/Martin%20Cusack%20MAJ%20DISSERTATION%20-%20Radio%20Doc%2C%20Written%20Report.pdf
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/146/2/bibliography.txt
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/146/9/Radio%20Documentary_The%20Life%20Cycle%20of%20an%20Alt-right%20Meme_Martin%20Cusack.mp3