1st Edition
QAnon From Conspiracy Theory to New Religious Movement
This book explores the QAnon movement by examining its history, fluctuations and evolution, stemming from the likelihood of multiple users behind the “Q” account, as well as from the changes in the sociopolitical landscape since the creation of the movement. It frames QAnon as a lived religion and demonstrates that it has gone through three stages of existence: proto-QAnon, canonical-QAnon and apocryphal-QAnon.
Author Marc-André Argentino argues that QAnon evolved into something more than a conspiracy theory and demonstrates through a comparative analysis that QAnon is more akin to a new religious movement, in particular a hyper-real religion. He explores the role of gender and women in the QAnon movement, followed by an examination of how the QAnon conspiracy theories have legitimized and coordinated targeted gender-based violence. The book provides evidence of the nexus of QAnon and ideologically-motivated violent extremism and criminality. Finally, it examines the evolution of QAnon after the January 6th insurrection, the loss of the 2020 election by Donald Trump and the disappearance of “Q.” This volume will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, new religious movements, American politics, and extremism.
INTRODUCTION: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: PIZZAGATE AND THE ORIGIN OF QANON?
What is the QAnon Conspiracy?
QAnon and COVID-19
Digital Ethnography
Social Movement Theory
Social Media Analytics
Chapters
1. QANON AS A LIVED RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
1.1 QAnon as a Live Religion
1.1.1 What is practice
1.1.2 QAnon as Religious Practice
1.2 Proto-QAnon
1.3 Canonical QAnon
1.3.1 QAnon pre-COVID-19 Pandemic
1.3.2 QAnon during the COVID-19 Pandemic
1.4 Conclusion Apocryphal QAnon
2. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON AND Q
2.1 Are We Dealing with a New Religious Movement?
2.1.1 What are Cults and New Religious Movements?
2.1.2 Is QAnon a New Religious Movement?
2.2 QAnon as a Hyper-Real Religion
2.2.1 QAnon and Popular Culture
2.2.2 Qvangelicals
2.2.3 A Case Study in QAnon as a Hyper-Real Religion: QAnon Ekklesia
2.3 QAnon and the Failure of Prophecy
2.3.1 Surviving the failure of prophecy
2.3.2 When JFK Jr. Did Not Return
2.3.3 The Failed Election and Secret Inaugurations
2.3.4 The Future of QAnon: What Happens After Multiple Failed Prophecies?
3. PASTEL QANON
3.1 Pastel QAnon
3.2 QAnon Women in Politics
3.2.1 Narratives of Female Electoral Candidates who are Firm Supporters of QAnon
3.2.2 Narratives of Female Electoral Candidates who are Ambivalent Supporters of QAnon
3.2.3 QAnon Congresswomen
3.2.4 Women as Political Figureheads
3.2.5 A Career in Conspiracy
4. HOW QANON CONSPIRACY THEORIES LEGITIMIZES COORDINATED AND TARGETED GENDER BASED VIOLENCE
Marc-André Argentino, Adnan Raja, Aoife Gallagher, and Mackenzie Hart
4.1 Gender Analysis Gaps in the Study of the QAnon Movement
4.2 History of Case Studies’ Harassment by QAnon
4.2.1 Tom Hanks
4.2.2 Chrissy Teigen
4.2.3 Ellen DeGeneres
4.2.4 Anderson Cooper
4.2.5 Oprah Winfrey
4.2.6 Jussie Smollet
4.3 Methodology
4.3.1 Facebook and Instagram Data Collection
4.3.2 Twitter data collection
4.3.3 Identification of abusive language
4.4 Findings
4.4.1 Twitter findings
4.4.2 Facebook and Instagram
4.5 Discussion
4.6 Conclusion
5. QANON AND IDEOLOGICALLY MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AND CRIMINALITY
5.1 Examples of QAnon and Violent Extremism
5.1.1 Edgar Maddison Welch
5.1.2 Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer
5.1.3 Matthew Philip Wright
5.1.4 Anthony Comello
5.1.5 Eduardo Moreno
5.1.5 Jessica Prim
5.2 Larger Trends in QAnon Criminality and Violent Extremism
5.3 Conclusion
6. QANON AFTER JANUARY 6TH 2021
6.1 We the Media
6.2 Neo-QAnon influencers
6.3 The Return of Gab
6.4 QAnon symbiosis and mutation
6.5 QAnon and its growing incorporation of Sovereign Citizen Narratives
6.6 Discourse analysis of QAnon’s growing overlap with IMVE actors
6.7 QAnon and Beyond: Analyzing QAnon Trends a Year After January 6
6.7.1 QAnon is not dead
6.7.2 The Next “Q”
6.7.3 Social Media and the Fractured Q Movement
6.7.4 Trendlines
CONCLUSION
Biography
Marc-André Argentino is Senior Research Fellow at the Accelerationism Research Consortium. His areas of research are nihilistic violence, hybridized threats, use of technology by violent extremist and terrorists, esotericism and occultism, malevolent creativity and threats to democratic institutions.
"Marc-André deconstructs the power, appeal, and durability of QAnon as a religious movement with deeply enviable expertise. By using both historical examples and the words of Q promoters, he shows how Q jumped from a few posts on a message board to an international movement that has quite literally captured millions of people in just a few years. This is a vital and powerful examination of a quasi-religion that desperately demands it."
Mike Rothschild, author of "The Storm is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything""No one understands the history, evolution, and contemporary importance of QAnon quite like Marc-André Argentino. In this excellent and much-needed book, he takes the reader through a data-driven romp through the movement's bizarre rise, the ways in which it functions as a religion for its followers, numerous instances of violence it has produced, and how the movement survives. An absolute must-read for conspiracy, extremism, and social movement watchers."
Amarnath Amarasingam, School of Religion, Queen's University, Ontario, Canada“Marc-André Argentino’s exhaustive chronicle of the QAnon movement leaves no stone unturned, no dark corner unexplored. Painstakingly detailed, rigorously documented, and told with all the style of a contemporary thriller, this vital work offers an urgent reminder of what may yet come from this most dangerous and complex of conspiracies.”
John Horgan, Distinguished University Professor, Georgia State University. Author of Terrorist Minds: The Psychology of Violent Extremism from al Qaeda to the Far Right.“QAnon: From Conspiracy Theory to New Religious Movement delivers a fresh, informed, and rigorous analysis of the QAnon phenomenon. Argentino dives deeper than typical reporting on QAnon to illuminate the religious elements, gender dynamics, and criminological implications of the movement. If you’ve ever asked yourself “how could anyone ever believe that,” then read this to understand why QAnon is much more than a mere conspiracy theory.”
Travis View, Host of the QAnonAnonymous podcast
