A Voice for the Voiceless: A Discursive Analysis of Single-Issue (Anti-Abortion and Animal Rights) Propaganda

• In Event: Under-explored Frontiers in Terrorism

Abstract

In this study, I uncover and analyze the most prevalent discursive patterns in single-issue (anti-abortion and animal rights) propaganda across two groups: Army of God and the Animal Liberation Front. In this qualitative-interpretive study, I sought to understand how single-issue groups construct propaganda to radicalize, recruit, and engender violence. I also explored the extent to which single-issue propaganda shared similarities and differences with Islamist and White supremacists’ propaganda, and what explained their differences, if any. Based on my interpretation of the data, I show here that different recruitment goals between single-issue, White supremacist, and Islamic extremist groups, largely drive discursive differences in their propaganda. I close by highlighting some of my contributions to the literature and its implications for countering extremist propaganda.

Author

• Jeremiah Perez-Torres, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center