How to Become a Superior Man: Black Conservativism, Neoliberalism, and the Digital Pathways to Radicalization
Abstract
The growing accessibility of digital media has transformed the ways political and ideological ideas circulate among younger audiences. Consequently, the boundary between explicitly political content and seemingly ordinary forms of entertainment and lifestyle media has been blurred. This paper examines how ostensibly apolitical content on social media can reproduce and reinforce ideas that feed into broader reactionary ideologies. This paper centers Black digital culture to consider how traditions of Black conservatism, neoliberal self-investment, and gendered expectations intersect within present-day online media. Existing scholarship on online radicalization has focused predominantly on white nationalist networks while leaving Black digital spaces underexplored. This paper attempts to minimize this gap through a secondary literature review and a qualitative content analysis of Black dating culture through Pop the Balloon or Find Love. Drawing on this analysis, this paper examines how experiencing rejection and insecurity can exacerbate a wider range of grievances. It also examines how social media platforms can connect seemingly unrelated cultural content to progressively extreme ideas. This paper further explores the relationship between traditional Black conservatism and the repackaging of the alt-right ideology in Black spaces. While the former provides a form of scaffolding for newer beliefs, the latter still represents a distinct form of radical thought with serious implications for the political identity and psychological well-being of Black youth.