Mitigated Radicality: Communication Strategies of Vigilante Antimigrant Groups

This article analyses the communication strategies of two anti-migrant groups in the north of France, in Calais. On one hand, they point out refugees as the enemy, potentially stiring up violence, and in some cases even organising events where violence erupts. On the other hand, while staging a discourse potentially leading to violence, they seek at the same time to soften their image as radical groups in order to avoid legal sanctions and having their digital communication tools from being shut down. The analysis is based on a field survey, conducted in three phases, over a year and a half, fifteen interviews with activists, local residents, members of associations, elected officials, migrants, as well as a corpus of online publications. The groups’ ambivalent relationship with radicality is illustrated through: the denial of violence or the denial of the responsibility for violence (ethos); the online content moderation or censorship (logos); the use of humour and irony (pathos). Their discourse shows the narrow path that these groups follow, between hardline vigilantism and claims to be a legitimate social movement. anti-migrant groups, vigilantism, radicalism, violence, social movements