Methodological lessons from four decades of close-up research on racial extremism
Abstract
Abstract This article discusses methodological issues in my close-up interviewing and observational research on how participants joined, acted in, and broke away from racist groups in four waves of extremist white supremacism in the US: the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, the resurgence of racial extremism in the 1990s, and organized racism in the 2010s and 2020s. Rather than offer a smooth roadmap, it describes the mistakes and problems that hindered, and sometimes, advanced my research and some possible solutions.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Populism
Right-Wing Movements
Terrorism
Counterterrorism
and Political Violence
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique
- Volume
- 169-170
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 60–72
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN