Mainstreaming the alt-right: sport and the effects of conspiracy during Euro 2020 [abstract only]

In examples of anti-white racism, conspiracy theories are frequently employed to ‘explain’ the very ways in which the values and beliefs of ‘White society’ are assumed to be undermined or undervalued. To this extent, the resort to conspiracy has remained a prominent characteristic of white nationalist movements, most notably, the ‘alternative right’ (alt-right). Increasingly, these conspiracies have infiltrated popular and political discourses, serving as both a point of criticism and debate amongst mainstream media outlets. By critically analysing the significance of conspiracy, this paper will explore the formal importance of conspiracy theories in aiding and perpetuating the dissemination of alt-right politics in sport. Paying particular attention to the development of alt-right conspiracies—from fringe online communities to popular social media spaces, such as Twitter—we examine how online criticisms of the ‘take the knee’ protest, during the 2020 European Football Championship, sought to deride the tournament for being subject to a cultural Marxist, ‘woke agenda’. Detailing the extent to which alt- and far-right discourses have become mainstreamed, we first address how the decision to take the knee before the start of England’s games became linked to criticisms of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, and second, we reflect upon the modality of conspiracy and its role in perpetuating examples of anti-white racism through fear, paranoia, and racial hate. For this reason, our conclusions speak to the conceptual and analytical importance of conspiracy across sport and society.