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Spreading Hate: The Global Rise of White Supremacist Terrorism
Spreading Hate
examines the evolution of the white power movement around the world, explaining its appeal and the threat it poses as well as many failures.
The modern white power movement is now a global, transnational phenomenon. In this sweeping, authoritative account, Daniel Byman traces the key moments in the white power movement's evolution in the United States and around the world and then details its many facets today. Using a wide range of
sources, Byman explodes several myths about white power terrorism and exposes dangerous gaps in current policies.
For almost two decades since 9/11, white supremacist terrorism has been relegated to a secondary concern in the US and Europe despite the fact that it was clearly metastasizing. This neglect has led to shocking episodes of violence from New Zealand to Norway to South Carolina and has eroded faith in
Western democratic institutions. Because white power terrorists' grievances echo mainstream debates and their violence often exacerbates polarization, their political impact can be inordinately high even if the body count is low. As Byman stresses, they are not a hide-bound movement seeking to turn
back the clock, but are dynamic, drawing on ideas from around the world and exploiting the most cutting-edge technologies, especially social media.
White power terrorists, however, have many weaknesses. They are divided, with poor leadership, and often attract the incompetent and the criminal as well as the dangerous and deluded. If governments act decisively and treat white power terrorism with the same urgency they use to manage jihadist
violence, then the threat can be reduced. This will require aggressive law enforcement, international intelligence cooperation, crackdowns by technology companies, and other forceful steps. Considering policy solutions as well as synthesizing a vast body of scholarly research, Spreading Hate will be
essential reading for anyone worried about this an increasingly networked movement that threatens to grow more dangerous in the years to come.
The modern white power movement is now a global, transnational phenomenon. In this sweeping, authoritative account, Daniel Byman traces the key moments in the white power movement's evolution in the United States and around the world and then details its many facets today. Using a wide range of
sources, Byman explodes several myths about white power terrorism and exposes dangerous gaps in current policies.
For almost two decades since 9/11, white supremacist terrorism has been relegated to a secondary concern in the US and Europe despite the fact that it was clearly metastasizing. This neglect has led to shocking episodes of violence from New Zealand to Norway to South Carolina and has eroded faith in
Western democratic institutions. Because white power terrorists' grievances echo mainstream debates and their violence often exacerbates polarization, their political impact can be inordinately high even if the body count is low. As Byman stresses, they are not a hide-bound movement seeking to turn
back the clock, but are dynamic, drawing on ideas from around the world and exploiting the most cutting-edge technologies, especially social media.
White power terrorists, however, have many weaknesses. They are divided, with poor leadership, and often attract the incompetent and the criminal as well as the dangerous and deluded. If governments act decisively and treat white power terrorism with the same urgency they use to manage jihadist
violence, then the threat can be reduced. This will require aggressive law enforcement, international intelligence cooperation, crackdowns by technology companies, and other forceful steps. Considering policy solutions as well as synthesizing a vast body of scholarly research, Spreading Hate will be
essential reading for anyone worried about this an increasingly networked movement that threatens to grow more dangerous in the years to come.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2022
14 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 5, 2022
A very useful and well-written synopsis of the contemporary white supremacist terrorism threat, with a nice global framing. Byman is a long-time terrorism analyst, and it's great that he's turned his considerable expertise to this growing threat.
Byman seems to be drawing mainly on secondary sources and public documents rather than archival work or interviews, although I may be wrong about that. This book is more a survey and intro rather than a thesis-driven book like Kathleen Belew's Bring the War Home. Still, Byman makes several useful points in here.
Byman supplies a useful history of the KKK to show how WS movements have become gradually more disconnected from and hostile to the state rather than aligned with it. He shows how the FBI and law enforcement and general turned its power on the KKK from the 60s forward, crippling it by exposing corruption and sowing dissent within it ranks as well as pursuing Klan members with a variety of criminal charges (few of them explicitly terrorism related). He shows that when the FBI turns its sights on WS groups, it is quite effective, especially given that WS views remain minoritarian in the US. This was a useful counterpoint to the relentless critical race theory scholarship that posits a white supremacist power structure in the US gov't; in fact, the US gov't, even Hoover's FBI, has been exceedingly hostile to WS movements for more than a half-century, even if other forms of racism endure.
Byman casts a global lens on WS terrorism, including chilling accounts of the Utoya and Christchurch massacres. He shows that WS groups have adapted to state suppression efforts by shifting to Louis Beam's network or leaderless resistance style, an org scheme that has become increasingly effective since the rise of the Internet. Figures from McVeigh to Tarrant to Breivik have been radicalized in large part remotely or through social networks, but Byman echoes Belew in arguing that calling them "lone wolves" obscures how important those networks are to their radicalization, even if they do't participate in planning of attacks. Overall, more nodal, networked WS groups, like their Islamist counterparts, face trade-offs for their decentralized design: they are harder to track and unravel through law enforcement, and while they can launch horrific one-off attacks they seem incapable of sustaining long-term political efforts.
One final point: Byman is a very level headed analyst, and he shows that in some ways white supremacist politics are the extreme edge of a spectrum of culture/ideas that have to be accommodated in the political system. This is touchy, but he shows that extremists are more likely to succeed when many more moderate people (relatively) feel that the political system completely shuts down their more traditionalistic views. I can see this point, but it kind of depends on where you draw the line. I think it's relevant to the issue of terrorism/radicalism, though, because ideally you want people's concerns to be institutionalized in the political system at a more moderate level before they drift into radicalism. On the flip side, the Trump phenomenon shows the danger of the radicalization of the mainstream and the legitimization of views that were once rightly seen as taboo (just think of the racist xenophobes whom Trump surrounded himself with and recall that literal white supremacists saw him as sympatico).
Overall, the impression of WS terrorism in this book is complex. It is a growing threat, as it is feeding on resentment about cultural change, demographic shifts, and new political breakthroughs like the election of Obama. In some countries, it is close to breaking into the mainstream, albeit in a variety of forms, not all of them vehemently racist. Still, this book shows that the threat is real and can no longer be downplayed. This book is very accessible and fairly concise, which makes it a good intro to the subject for the interested reader.
Byman seems to be drawing mainly on secondary sources and public documents rather than archival work or interviews, although I may be wrong about that. This book is more a survey and intro rather than a thesis-driven book like Kathleen Belew's Bring the War Home. Still, Byman makes several useful points in here.
Byman supplies a useful history of the KKK to show how WS movements have become gradually more disconnected from and hostile to the state rather than aligned with it. He shows how the FBI and law enforcement and general turned its power on the KKK from the 60s forward, crippling it by exposing corruption and sowing dissent within it ranks as well as pursuing Klan members with a variety of criminal charges (few of them explicitly terrorism related). He shows that when the FBI turns its sights on WS groups, it is quite effective, especially given that WS views remain minoritarian in the US. This was a useful counterpoint to the relentless critical race theory scholarship that posits a white supremacist power structure in the US gov't; in fact, the US gov't, even Hoover's FBI, has been exceedingly hostile to WS movements for more than a half-century, even if other forms of racism endure.
Byman casts a global lens on WS terrorism, including chilling accounts of the Utoya and Christchurch massacres. He shows that WS groups have adapted to state suppression efforts by shifting to Louis Beam's network or leaderless resistance style, an org scheme that has become increasingly effective since the rise of the Internet. Figures from McVeigh to Tarrant to Breivik have been radicalized in large part remotely or through social networks, but Byman echoes Belew in arguing that calling them "lone wolves" obscures how important those networks are to their radicalization, even if they do't participate in planning of attacks. Overall, more nodal, networked WS groups, like their Islamist counterparts, face trade-offs for their decentralized design: they are harder to track and unravel through law enforcement, and while they can launch horrific one-off attacks they seem incapable of sustaining long-term political efforts.
One final point: Byman is a very level headed analyst, and he shows that in some ways white supremacist politics are the extreme edge of a spectrum of culture/ideas that have to be accommodated in the political system. This is touchy, but he shows that extremists are more likely to succeed when many more moderate people (relatively) feel that the political system completely shuts down their more traditionalistic views. I can see this point, but it kind of depends on where you draw the line. I think it's relevant to the issue of terrorism/radicalism, though, because ideally you want people's concerns to be institutionalized in the political system at a more moderate level before they drift into radicalism. On the flip side, the Trump phenomenon shows the danger of the radicalization of the mainstream and the legitimization of views that were once rightly seen as taboo (just think of the racist xenophobes whom Trump surrounded himself with and recall that literal white supremacists saw him as sympatico).
Overall, the impression of WS terrorism in this book is complex. It is a growing threat, as it is feeding on resentment about cultural change, demographic shifts, and new political breakthroughs like the election of Obama. In some countries, it is close to breaking into the mainstream, albeit in a variety of forms, not all of them vehemently racist. Still, this book shows that the threat is real and can no longer be downplayed. This book is very accessible and fairly concise, which makes it a good intro to the subject for the interested reader.
November 8, 2023
I listened to the Audible audiobook version.
Spreading Hate is an excellent overview of the violent white supremacist movement in the United States and across the world. Even as a seasoned reader of this topic in college and beyond, I was still learning new things about the history of right wing domestic terrorism from this book, which is a credit to Daniel Byman's research on the topic.
I was particularly engrossed in the up and down stories of the KKK and other white supremacist groups during the post-Civil-Rights era (60s-90s) as that was perhaps my weakest area of knowledge. I was also appreciative that Byman addressed the fundamental weaknesses of these groups and didn't just consider them off as this impending society-ending threat like too many political prognosticators. My particularly favorite anecdote was that of FBI agents infiltrating KKK groups and telling group leaders that rival members were sleeping with their wives. The skinhead movement had plenty of weaknesses too. But these vulnerabilities have fallen in the modern age as the internet has promoted a global movement of far right and white supremacist groups and ideologies that learn from each other and adapt to their particular nation's politics.
Byman ends the book with a look at the strategies counterterrorism officials use to stop terrorism and what recommendations he has for improving the system, though he acknowledges that political trends in the US, as well as certain constitutional guarantees on speech and gatherings, make counterterrorism approaches more difficult. Therefore alternatives to a law enforcement approach may be useful.
A high recommend from me for anyone interested in a good, straightforward analysis and history of white supremacist terrorism.
Spreading Hate is an excellent overview of the violent white supremacist movement in the United States and across the world. Even as a seasoned reader of this topic in college and beyond, I was still learning new things about the history of right wing domestic terrorism from this book, which is a credit to Daniel Byman's research on the topic.
I was particularly engrossed in the up and down stories of the KKK and other white supremacist groups during the post-Civil-Rights era (60s-90s) as that was perhaps my weakest area of knowledge. I was also appreciative that Byman addressed the fundamental weaknesses of these groups and didn't just consider them off as this impending society-ending threat like too many political prognosticators. My particularly favorite anecdote was that of FBI agents infiltrating KKK groups and telling group leaders that rival members were sleeping with their wives. The skinhead movement had plenty of weaknesses too. But these vulnerabilities have fallen in the modern age as the internet has promoted a global movement of far right and white supremacist groups and ideologies that learn from each other and adapt to their particular nation's politics.
Byman ends the book with a look at the strategies counterterrorism officials use to stop terrorism and what recommendations he has for improving the system, though he acknowledges that political trends in the US, as well as certain constitutional guarantees on speech and gatherings, make counterterrorism approaches more difficult. Therefore alternatives to a law enforcement approach may be useful.
A high recommend from me for anyone interested in a good, straightforward analysis and history of white supremacist terrorism.
January 11, 2023
Review: Really great read about white supremacist terrorism. Brings up a lot of great issues and offers insight as to what to do about some of the major challenges. Excellent overview of historical and global perspectives as well.
Notes:
Purpose - explain how/why white supremacist terrorism became so violent/dangerous. How can we increase our understanding of WST so intelligence/law enforcement can adapt counterterrorism policy/methods?
Far right/white supremacist terrorists are nothing new but increasingly problematic and interconnected globally, terrorist attacks inspire others and serve as models/learning experiences.
We focus too much on Islamic terror (understandably) and WST will blindside us (already has). Freedom of speech issues, political issues make WST challenging more so than IT.
Social media becoming a huge problem - propaganda, group communication, recruitment.
Even lone wolves are part of a connected an coherent social movement, lone wolves are very hard to identify and detect.
WST - never really achieves strategic goals and violence has generally alienated supporters of movements/issues, brings increasing law enforcement and judicial scrutiny. Limited popular support (broad) due to violence. Low death toll, but data is deeply flawed. Other ways to view WST data - number of successful/foiled plots, group memberships, amount of arrests related to DT/WST (still all flawed). Federal data coordination with local/state law enforcement is really bad (two-way street). Political and psychological effects are really bad, greater political effect especially in Europe. Groups are easy to penetrate, we want to focus on intel before attacks happen (obviously). Can be hard.
Cannot fight it only at a domestic level, have to navigate politics and CT policy at the same time, countering threats is challenging in comparison to IT. Political consensus is currently absent.
Notes:
Purpose - explain how/why white supremacist terrorism became so violent/dangerous. How can we increase our understanding of WST so intelligence/law enforcement can adapt counterterrorism policy/methods?
Far right/white supremacist terrorists are nothing new but increasingly problematic and interconnected globally, terrorist attacks inspire others and serve as models/learning experiences.
We focus too much on Islamic terror (understandably) and WST will blindside us (already has). Freedom of speech issues, political issues make WST challenging more so than IT.
Social media becoming a huge problem - propaganda, group communication, recruitment.
Even lone wolves are part of a connected an coherent social movement, lone wolves are very hard to identify and detect.
WST - never really achieves strategic goals and violence has generally alienated supporters of movements/issues, brings increasing law enforcement and judicial scrutiny. Limited popular support (broad) due to violence. Low death toll, but data is deeply flawed. Other ways to view WST data - number of successful/foiled plots, group memberships, amount of arrests related to DT/WST (still all flawed). Federal data coordination with local/state law enforcement is really bad (two-way street). Political and psychological effects are really bad, greater political effect especially in Europe. Groups are easy to penetrate, we want to focus on intel before attacks happen (obviously). Can be hard.
Cannot fight it only at a domestic level, have to navigate politics and CT policy at the same time, countering threats is challenging in comparison to IT. Political consensus is currently absent.
July 8, 2024
Overall a good synopsis of the white supremacist threat. If you are well versed in this subject I don’t think you will get much out of it but it does provide a good overview of the past and of the mostly current state of things.
The book mostly relies on secondary sources and doesn’t dig as deep as something like Kathleen Belew’s bring the war home, but in a sea of pretty terrible books on this subject I would say it’s one of the better ones.
Some critiques: it gets awfully repetitive at times, making the same points and going over the same anecdotes over and over. Some of the more interesting and unique cases are also glossed over. Also, I know that the big is about white supremacist terrorism explicitly, it does gloss over the effect that white supremacist terrorism has on shifting the political discourse. The movement is described as a failure although hate crimes, hate speech, and support for white supremacist ideas have been dramatically growing. I think a deeper and more insightful analysis of this would have proved more interesting. As an introduction into the topic I would probably give it four stars.
The book mostly relies on secondary sources and doesn’t dig as deep as something like Kathleen Belew’s bring the war home, but in a sea of pretty terrible books on this subject I would say it’s one of the better ones.
Some critiques: it gets awfully repetitive at times, making the same points and going over the same anecdotes over and over. Some of the more interesting and unique cases are also glossed over. Also, I know that the big is about white supremacist terrorism explicitly, it does gloss over the effect that white supremacist terrorism has on shifting the political discourse. The movement is described as a failure although hate crimes, hate speech, and support for white supremacist ideas have been dramatically growing. I think a deeper and more insightful analysis of this would have proved more interesting. As an introduction into the topic I would probably give it four stars.
August 14, 2022
This book was worth the read for the brrief summary of white supremacy in the U.S. and Europe in the 20th-21st century and how Western Governments have combated or turned a blind eye to their activities. Most importantly, it provides suggestions for how the Governments of the U.S. and others in the EU can pursue a counterterrorism approach to reducing the threat or eliminating it entirely. Very timely for anyone concerned about this issue
June 14, 2025
Very American centric.
A lot of stuff I was already aware.
Lots of references, quite a few typos, but otherwise a good compilation of information and discusses the inner workings of white supremacy and how to thwart it in an easy to understand way. Like an introduction to the topic.
A lot of stuff I was already aware.
Lots of references, quite a few typos, but otherwise a good compilation of information and discusses the inner workings of white supremacy and how to thwart it in an easy to understand way. Like an introduction to the topic.
August 1, 2022
Excellent overview of the landscape of White Supremacy. Although it could do more to cover the global side of the movement.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews