''Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right'' is a 2017 non-fiction book by Angela Nagle published by Zero Books. It describes the development of

internet culture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

, the nature of

political correctness "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...

, the emergence of the

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

and the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Nagle offers a left-wing critique of contemporary

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

, arguing that it helped create the alt-right movement.

Synopsis

Nagle presents her work as an attempt to map the online

culture wars A culture war is a form of cultural conflict (metaphorical "war") between different social groups who struggle to politically impose their own ideology (moral beliefs, humane virtues, and religious practices) upon mainstream society, or upon t ...

that occurred in the early 2010s and how it resulted in the development of

which played a major role in the election of Donald Trump. Nagle introduces the 2010s as a period in which "cyber utopianism" began to emerge with the rise of internet-based social activism such as the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

adbusters The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia. Adbusters describes itself as "a global network of artists, activis ...

, and

Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

which were based on decentralized leadership and online organization. This internet-based activism was immediately embraced by much of mainstream

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

without any rigorous analysis or appraisal of the organizational structure and limitations of these internet-based movements, which all resulted in consistent failure and eventual collapse. Many of these movements began on image-based online forums such as

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...

and

8chan 8kun, previously called 8chan, Infinitechan or Infinitychan (stylized as ∞chan), is an imageboard website composed of user-created message boards. An owner moderates each board, with minimal interaction from site administration. The site ...

. These forums, organized on the basis of

anonymity Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Anonymity may be created unintentionally through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event, or intentionally if a person cho ...

, developed a subculture among the users that combined extremely transgressive and dark humor with a deeply

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...

and

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

attitude. In the second chapter, titled "The Online Politics of Transgression", Nagle observes how political transgression historically is associated with the political Left, specifically that of the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

, which was adopted by the

Alt-Right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

. Nagle frames this adoption of transgression by the political right in relation to the concept of moral transgression, which can be traced to the eighteenth century figures of

Marquis De Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( ; ; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy and pornography ...

, The Surrealists,

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

Punk subculture The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of Punk rock, music, Punk ideologies, ideologies, Punk fashion, fashion, and other forms of expression, Punk visual art, visual art, dance, Punk literature, literature, and film. La ...

, and contemporaneously in the 1990s 'male rampage films' like ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

'' and ''

Fight Club ''Fight Club'' is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel ''Fight Club (novel), Fight Club'' by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays The Narrator (F ...

''. This 'transgressive anti-moral style' of the Alt-Right, according to Nagle, is their attempt to completely break away from the

egalitarian Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

philosophy of the Left and the

Christian morality Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system. It is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic, which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty according ...

of the Right. In chapter three, "Gramscians of the Alt-Lite", Nagle focuses on the popularity of the

French New Right The ''Nouvelle Droite'' (, ), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The ''Nouvelle Droite'' is the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Various schola ...

within the circles of the Alt-Right.

Publication and reception

''Kill All Normies'' received a polarized reception from critics and columnists, with ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'', ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', and ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' publishing positive reviews of the book, whereas outlets such as ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...

'',

Libcom Libcom.org is an online platform featuring a variety of libertarian communist essays, blog posts, and archives, primarily in English. It was founded in 2005 by editors in the United States and the United Kingdom. Libcom.org also has a forum and soc ...

, ''

CounterPunch ''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Un ...

'', and '' The New Socialist'' criticized Nagle's description of campus activism. A review in ''

'' said the book was plagued by "sloppy sourcing", noting an allegation that parts of the book had been

plagiarized Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of anothe ...

. Nagle and her publisher both rejected the accusations. In his review, ''Red Wedge Magazine'' co-author accused Nagle of failing to understand the countercultures she writes about, claiming that she portrays alt-right groups on 4chan and social justice communities on Tumblr as being equally violent. Nagle called the review "hilarious" in an interview with Zero Books. Columnist

Ross Douthat Ross Gregory Douthat ( ; born November 28, 1979) is a conservative American author and ''New York Times'' columnist. He was a senior editor of '' The Atlantic''. He has written on religion, politics, and society. Early life and education Ross Gr ...

of the ''New York Times'' praised Nagle's "portrait of the online cultural war", and the ''Times'' columnist Michelle Goldberg said that ''Kill All Normies'' had "captured this phenomenon". Novelist

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a we ...

listed ''Kill All Normies'' as one of his ten favorite books helping him through the "current political moment". An episode of the Fusion Networks' TV series ''Trumpland'' directed by Leighton Woodhouse was based on the book. A Spanish edition was published in May 2018 by Orciny Press, and a German edition in September 2018 by Transcript.

References

{{Alt-right footer 2017 non-fiction books Alt-right Books about fascism Books about the Internet Books involved in plagiarism controversies Mass media about Internet culture Zero Books

Synopsis

Publication and reception

See also

References