Soldiers of a pale god : masculinities and religiosity among members of the Christian Identity and Creativity movements
department or school: Graduate Studies, College of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Hodge, Edwin Glen
issued: 2012-01-06T17:59:41Z
issued: 2011
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: How white supremacists and other race-based extremist groups conceive of themselves is inextricably bound up with conceptions of masculinity – what it means to be a man within the movement. Masculine self-identification informs not only the shape of in-group association between members, but also how those members’ identities are constructed in opposition to the external Other. In the case of religious-based white supremacy movements, considerations of masculine identity are interlocked with religious identification. The primary argument of this paper is that intersections of gender and faith form a complex matrix of interlocking beliefs that provide the bedrock of social and political activity within those white supremacist communities that emphasise religion. This paper examines the beliefs of both Christian Identity and the Creativity Movement, focussing specifically on the configurations of masculinity within these movements. Through qualitative and discourse analysis, the rhetoric and philosophies of the two groups are interrogated and the importance of religious belief to conceptualizing and performing gendered behaviour is examined. The research conducted indicates that in communities with strong religious identities such as the Identity movement, masculinity becomes inextricably linked to religious practice. In organizations with weaker religious frameworks such as the Creativity movement, patterns of ‘acceptable’ masculinity become less rigid in practice and more reliant upon pre-existing social and political ideologies.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/39929
note: SOLDIERS OF A PALE GOD: MASCULINITIES AND RELIGIOSITY AMONG MEMBERS OF THE CHRISTIAN IDENTITY AND CREATIVITY MOVEMENTS by Edwin Glen Hodge B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2006 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The College of Graduate Studies (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) December 2011 ©Edwin Glen Hodge, 2011 ii Abstract How white supremacists and other race-based extremist groups conceive of themselves is inextricably bound up with conceptions of masculinity – what it means to be a man within the movement. Masculine self-identification informs not only the shape of in-group association between members, but also how those members’ identities are constructed in opposition to the external Other. In the case of religious-based white supremacy movements, considerations of masculine identity are interlocked with religious identification. The primary argument of this paper is that intersections of gender and faith form a complex matrix of interlocking beliefs that provide the bedrock of social and political activity within those white supremacist communities that emphasise religion. This paper examines the beliefs of both Christian Identity and the Creativity Movement, focussing specifically on the configurations of masculinity within these movements. Through qualitative and discourse analysis, the rhetoric and philosophies of the two groups are interrogated and the importance of religious belief to conceptualizing and performing gendered behaviour is examined. The research conducted indicates that in communities with strong religious identities such as the Identity movement, masculinity becomes inextricably linked to religious practice. In organizations with weaker religious frameworks such as the Creativity movement, patterns of ‘acceptable’ masculinity become less rigid in practice and more reliant upon pre-existing social and political ideologies. iii T…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2012-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0072511
language: eng
degree discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution 3.0 Unported
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/39929