“Likes, sweat and tears”: a digital ethnographic approach to Argentinian alt-right masculinity

Abstract

The present paper’s main objective is to analyze how the Argentinian Alt-Right constructs a type of masculinity by using social media as its primary discursive medium, and how this construction articulates with the rest of its ideological premises to create a collective identity in the process. To achieve this, it draws on the Post-structural discourse theory by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, and on Judith Butler’s postulates on Gender Performativity. The research was conducted using a methodology of digital ethnography and non-participant observation. This was carried out from an “X” account, through which screenshots of posts containing a series of predetermined keywords and a diversity of discursive forms were collected. These screenshots formed the basis for a qualitative analysis, which sought to trace the relations between the ideological postulates of the Alt-Right, its construction of masculinity, and how this construction “sutures” its belief system. In conclusion, we consider that the performativity of masculinity is what determines the conditions of belonging to the movement and defines “what” and “whom” the Alt-Right positions itself antagonistically.