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Paper short abstract

Based on research in German fascist digital spaces, this paper reflects on victimhood as a methodological lens for digital ethnography. Drawing on Lefebvre, it conceptualizes online platforms as affective spaces that enable fascist narratives and demand explicit antifascist research ethics.

Paper long abstract

This paper advances a transdisciplinary methodological intervention into the study of fascism by proposing victimhood as a central analytical lens for digital ethnography. Drawing on field research conducted for my Master’s thesis, it reflects on the specificities of the digital field and on the ethical demands of studying regressive movements. Following Adrienne Pine and Dan McQuillan, I argue that such movements cannot be approached from a position of neutrality, but must be researched through an explicitly antifascist stance that acknowledges the political consequences of academic knowledge production.

The digital field this research is situated in is characterized by fragmentation and heterogeneity: a multiplicity of actors, core ideologues, and audiences operate across channels and formats. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s concept of space, I conceptualize this online field as a socially produced space shaped by specific material conditions. Platform capitalism, data extraction, and engagement-orientation structure visibility and reward affective and morally charged communication. I argue that these conditions systematically privilege fascist narratives, making the digital field a particularly productive site for the circulation of victimhood claims.

On a theoretical level, the paper highlights the underexplored intertwinement between fascism and victimhood, as first conceptualized by Lilie Chouliaraki, in field-based research. I suggest that victimhood functions as a malleable speech act through which fascist actors construct moral legitimacy and justify violence. Critically investigating digital victimhood ethnographically not only deepens our understanding of why fascism operates as a compelling identity offer, but may also inform critical strategies to counter fascist mobilization in digital spaces.