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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the way moral discourses in stories about race and racism on social media perpetuate a worldview based on superiority and difference

Paper long abstract:

Cyber-racism is a relatively new and yet increasingly pervasive form of racism that contributes to the undermining of social cohesion. My research is approaching this issue through a narrative analysis of online representations of race and racism. The underlying assumption in my research is that the moral discourse in stories that are told about race and racism influences the way we view others, perpetuating particular worldviews. The moral discourse includes elements common to all societies such as judgments about who is included or excluded as part of the dominant culture, but is also contextual and evolving, based on historical and cultural aspects of a society. This paper will explore the moral discourse in stories about race and racism that are told on Australian social media sites relating them to common elements of race and racism in an Australian context. It will be argued that the moral discourse in these stories attracts supporters while at the same time intimidates and excludes those targeted as not fitting in to the dominant Australian culture, perpetuating a worldview that is based on superiority and difference.