By Konstantin Sonin, David Van Dijcke, and Austin L. Wright 

The massive violent protest at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was a rare event for a mature democracy. We investigate its drivers using location data from 40 million mobile devices. Leveraging a novel approach for estimating spatially-dispersed protest participation, we show that political isolation amplified the effect of partisanship on participation. Increased mobilization occurred in states with close Trump losses and politically isolated counties with proBiden election-night shifts. These results align with a model in which protesters from isolated communities are more sensitive to information from their preferred sources. Our findings shed light on deep motivations and immediate triggers of violent collective action.  

  WORKING PAPER · NO. 2021-13, 2023. 75p.

By Hilary Matfess and Devorah Margolin

This report contextualizes women’s participation in the events of the January 6th Capitol Hill Siege within the broader history of women’s participation in American far-right extremism. This report underscores that women have played, and continue to play, active and important roles in American far-right extremist groups. In this movement, women are often incorporated in complementary, rather than egalitarian, roles. Because they are rarely on the ‘frontlines’ of far-right extremist groups’ activities, women’s contributions have often been marginalized or underplayed. However, women’s participation in support roles and their place in right-wing extremist propaganda have been important contributions to extremist groups’ activities and capabilities. In examining women’s participation in the events of January 6th, this report probes how far-right extremist movements in the United States operationalize gender norms and identifies aspects of commonality and difference between groups.

Washington, DC: Program on Extremism, The George Washington University, 2022. 58p.

By The Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism

A report from the ADL Center on Extremism explores how white supremacists in the United States have experienced a resurgence in the past three years, driven in large part by the rise of the alt right. The alt right is the newest segment of the white supremacist movement, bringing new energy and activism to the movement’s racism and anti-Semitism.

The ADL Center on Extremism (COE) is one of the world’s foremost authorities on extremism, terrorism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. For decades, COE’s staff of seasoned investigators analysts and researchers have tracked extremist activity and hate in the U.S. and abroad -- online and on the ground.

New York: ADL, 2018. 72p.