By Maria Esquivel

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Janie Lee

Abstract

The literature surrounding right-wing ideology has focused largely on the political and sociological aspects of right-wing movements. While Kosse (2022) studied right-wing groups in the 4-chan message boards, the work was purely observational and has not allowed us to gain a discursive understanding of the right-wing as well as interactive ethnographic methods could. Other literature (e.g., Gorska et.al 2022, Mendoza-Denton 2017, O’Donnell 2020, Zienkowski 2015) has focused on larger, equally important, questions such as the relationship between right-wing ideology and anti-feminist discourse or the discursive tools used by transmitters of right-wing rhetoric. Tebaldi’s (2022) study on women and their role in promulgating a standardized right-wing pedagogy is a notable exception in that it is rooted in an ethnographic tradition. I propose an ethnographic method to right-wing studies that allows for the study of how sub-altern groups in right-wing discourse interact in the creation of a right-wing bloc. I showcase my 16-week-long ethnography of one such group of conservative and right-wing transgender rightists, and argue for this methodology in future research into right-wing discourse.