Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
QAnon can no longer be treated as a ‘fringe issue’ but must be considered a far-reaching social problem. In this crucial contribution to our understanding of how family relationships and dynamics deal with and are affected by conspiratorial beliefs, Mulcahy and Simpson explore how the social and relational consequences of QAnon belief affect both individuals and communities.
Through a feminist, relational lens and drawing on data from a digital ethnography of the Subreddit forum ‘QAnonCasualties’, A Relational Approach to the QAnon Movement: The Hidden Pandemic addresses a gap in current research by providing a much-needed analysis of the unheard voices and experiences of the primary social networks of QAnon believers (e.g., family, partners, friends etc.), exploring the impact such conspiratorial theories have on the lives of ‘outgroup’ members and their relationships with their loved ones. By doing so, it sheds light on the unacknowledged and far-reaching consequences of conspiratorial belief more generally. The experiences of QAnon believers’ friends and families provide a unique perspective on the journey towards conspiratorial belief and political polarisation, as they watch (and react to) the process in real time. This also allows for the identification of push and pull factors relating to the QAnonCasualties and their ‘Q’s as they negotiate their relationships.
Through investigating the banality of the everyday experiences of those affected, the authors create space for the emergence of social responses to redress what has become a wicked social problem that requires a multifaceted, holistic and empathetic approach to solving it.
Rian Mulcahy is a sociologist with a specific interest in economic sociology, sociology of markets and valuation studies.
Jessica Simpson is a Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Greenwich, UK.
Section 1.
Chapter 1. Seeing the Hidden Pandemic
Chapter 2. Rethinking Radicalisation: A Critical Review of Research on Belief, Polarisation, and Relational Harm
Chapter 3. Researching the Relational: Methods and Frameworks
Section 2.
Rise: Introduction
Chapter 4. The Cult of Trump: Charisma, Authority, and Allegiance
Chapter 5. Echo Chambers of the Right: Conservative Media Ecosystems
Chapter 6. Platformed Conspiracy: Social Media and the Digital Public Sphere
Chapter 7. COVID-19 and the Acceleration of Q
Chapter 8. Framing the Crisis: From Political Extremism to Intimate Disruption
Rise: Conclusion
Section 3.
Rupture: Introduction
Chapter 9. Epistemic Collapse: The Loss of Shared Reality
Chapter 10. Emotional First Responders: The Gendered Burden of Care
Chapter 11. Q or Abuse? Blurred Boundaries and Naming Harm
Rupture: Conclusion
Section 4.
Response: Introduction
Chapter 12. Grieving the Living: Loss in the Qanon Era
Chapter 13. Coping and Community: Grassroots Care in the Digital Aftermath
Response: Conclusion
Section 5.
Chapter 14. Conclusion: The Relational Life of Radicalisation
Chapter 15. Paths Forward: Repair, Policy, and the Future of Care