GamerGate to Capitol Hill: Speculative Fiction and the Alt-Right
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Media, Arts and Humanities
Abstract
The connection between the Alt-Right and speculative fiction (SF) is clearly visible through the political slogans and
dog whistles used by the movement. Quotes from film Starship Troopers (1997, based on Heinlein's 1959 novel)
were used in UKIP's Alt-Right influenced 2019 election campaign. Meanwhile "God Emperor Trump" (referencing
the Dune series 1965-1985) became a popular Alt-Right meme, and the extremist group which attempted to kidnap
the governor of Michigan called themselves "Wolverine Watchmen", a name referencing two different superhero
comics. SF comprises the sub-genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror (Wilkins 39), and its connection to the
far-right can be traced back through the themes of classic SF texts such as Lovecraft's fear of the racialised other,
Tolkien's volkish pastoralism, and the machismo of early pulp science fiction. This project will explore the
relationship between the Alt-Right and SF, examining how the movement interacted with the super-genre as fans.
By combining close textual analysis with a series of interviews with participants in online fan communities (OFCs), I
will map the themes of these texts and examine how Alt-Right interpretations may differ from or reflect the
mainstream, with the broader aim of examining the role played by SF in far-right radicalisation within the OFCs that
celebrate these works.
My work will focus on the years 2014 to 2021, from GamerGate, which mainstreamed the movements, to the
eventual outcome of its violent rhetoric, the Capital Hill riot. This project is limited to studying Alt-Right fan activities
in the UK and US, as although a global movement, the Alt-Right's figureheads primarily originated in those two
countries.
Research background and questions
GamerGate was a 2014 online campaign where video game fan communities began harassed women working in
the games industry; it heralded future patterns of the Alt-Right using online harassment as a mode of identity
formation and recruitment (Mortensen & Sihvonen). GamerGate gave a platform to a dedicated group of far-right
influencers who began to collectively label themselves the "Alt-Right". Neiwert characterises the movement a
7 / 35
"Lethal Union" (Neiwert 231) synthesising older far-right groups (militias, skinheads) and the occupants of internet
spaces: 4Chan, sub-reddits, Facebook groups and MRA websites. What separated Alt-Right from previous far-right
movements was that its dissemination of ideas and recruitment predominantly took place online, using the style of
online harassment which GamerGate demonstrated (Neiwert 215) to push its reactionary ideology. As a trans,
neurodivergent teenager in the early 2010s, online communities (message boards, forums, social media and
dedicated websites) celebrating the works of Tolkien, Adams and the Vertigo comic books provided me with
considerable support. Witnessing these spaces becoming hotbeds of far-right harassment was a chilling moment in
my adolescence. This experience also gives me the ability to understand the vernacular of slang prevalent during
the mid 2010s which is central to understanding the Alt-Right's communications.
Examining the SF consumed by the Alt-Right through the lens of fan studies, my thesis will seek to answer the following questions:
which SF texts were most associated with the Alt-Right? What are the key themes of these texts and are these
themes ubiquitous throughout the super-genre? How did the Alt-Right read and relate to these texts as fans? And
finally, how does this affect our broader understanding of far-right presence within SF fandom?
dog whistles used by the movement. Quotes from film Starship Troopers (1997, based on Heinlein's 1959 novel)
were used in UKIP's Alt-Right influenced 2019 election campaign. Meanwhile "God Emperor Trump" (referencing
the Dune series 1965-1985) became a popular Alt-Right meme, and the extremist group which attempted to kidnap
the governor of Michigan called themselves "Wolverine Watchmen", a name referencing two different superhero
comics. SF comprises the sub-genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror (Wilkins 39), and its connection to the
far-right can be traced back through the themes of classic SF texts such as Lovecraft's fear of the racialised other,
Tolkien's volkish pastoralism, and the machismo of early pulp science fiction. This project will explore the
relationship between the Alt-Right and SF, examining how the movement interacted with the super-genre as fans.
By combining close textual analysis with a series of interviews with participants in online fan communities (OFCs), I
will map the themes of these texts and examine how Alt-Right interpretations may differ from or reflect the
mainstream, with the broader aim of examining the role played by SF in far-right radicalisation within the OFCs that
celebrate these works.
My work will focus on the years 2014 to 2021, from GamerGate, which mainstreamed the movements, to the
eventual outcome of its violent rhetoric, the Capital Hill riot. This project is limited to studying Alt-Right fan activities
in the UK and US, as although a global movement, the Alt-Right's figureheads primarily originated in those two
countries.
Research background and questions
GamerGate was a 2014 online campaign where video game fan communities began harassed women working in
the games industry; it heralded future patterns of the Alt-Right using online harassment as a mode of identity
formation and recruitment (Mortensen & Sihvonen). GamerGate gave a platform to a dedicated group of far-right
influencers who began to collectively label themselves the "Alt-Right". Neiwert characterises the movement a
7 / 35
"Lethal Union" (Neiwert 231) synthesising older far-right groups (militias, skinheads) and the occupants of internet
spaces: 4Chan, sub-reddits, Facebook groups and MRA websites. What separated Alt-Right from previous far-right
movements was that its dissemination of ideas and recruitment predominantly took place online, using the style of
online harassment which GamerGate demonstrated (Neiwert 215) to push its reactionary ideology. As a trans,
neurodivergent teenager in the early 2010s, online communities (message boards, forums, social media and
dedicated websites) celebrating the works of Tolkien, Adams and the Vertigo comic books provided me with
considerable support. Witnessing these spaces becoming hotbeds of far-right harassment was a chilling moment in
my adolescence. This experience also gives me the ability to understand the vernacular of slang prevalent during
the mid 2010s which is central to understanding the Alt-Right's communications.
Examining the SF consumed by the Alt-Right through the lens of fan studies, my thesis will seek to answer the following questions:
which SF texts were most associated with the Alt-Right? What are the key themes of these texts and are these
themes ubiquitous throughout the super-genre? How did the Alt-Right read and relate to these texts as fans? And
finally, how does this affect our broader understanding of far-right presence within SF fandom?
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ziggy Israel Hopkins (Student) |