Conspiratorial medievalism: history and hyperagency in the far right knights templar security imaginary

Millar, Katharine M. ORCID: 0000-0003-2511-5325 and Lopez, Julia Costa (2021) Conspiratorial medievalism: history and hyperagency in the far right knights templar security imaginary. Politics. ISSN 0263-3957

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Abstract

Imagery associated with the Knights Templar appears in the public discourse and symbolism of many white supremacist and white nationalist groups. The 2011 Norwegian mass murderer cited the Templars in his manifesto, as did the 2019 New Zealand shooter. Templar crosses were on display at the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, North Carolina. To understand the security imaginary behind these racialised medievalisms and their contemporary animation within right-wing extremism, this article develops the concept of ‘conspiratorial medievalism’. The Knights Templar imaginary blends a specific, racialised, and romanticised vision of history with the grammar of conspiracy theory. This is characterised by (a) a belief in the racialised decline and victimisation of a ‘righteous’ White Christendom; (b) a sense of threat posed by racialised Others and betrayal by insiders; and (c) an anachronistic view of near-omnipotent individual agency. Significantly, conspiratorial medievalism demonstrates an aspiration to not merely combat ‘undue’ agency of racialised Others, but to reclaim and perform extreme agency themselves. Agency is cast in the idiom of medieval chivalry and framed as the moral obligation of righteous White men. Although Knights Templar imagery may appear superficial, this article finds it is an important justificatory and enabling discourse for racist violence.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://journals.sagepub.com/home/pol
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	International Relations
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History
Date Deposited:	29 Mar 2021 15:15
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 03:30
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/109802

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