The Turner Diaries is a fiction book published under the name Andrew Macdonald. The author is William Pierce, and it has been instrumental in influencing far-right scenes as well as the development of white supremacist ideologies. He writes about a number of episodes which start with a dominance coup and end up turning towards the race extermination of Jews, gays and non-whites (including nuclear holocaust and anti-semitism). One can hardly neglect “The Turner Diaries” ‘s role in the far-right movement. The consequences of the book have been severe; the book has triggered criminal acts, including the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995.
A white supremacist classic, the Turner Diaries focuses on how popular fiction can spread and entrench white supremacy as a form of cultural criminology. The book has the storyline of a violent insurgency of white supremacists, which served as belief mills to the racists who have different ideologies. Its influence on the creation of white supremacist groups has been immense and cannot be overstated. Turner Diaries, despite being fictional, has been associated with White supremacist organizations and has been used for training on racist and white supremacy ideologies. Apart from that, shootings, crimes and other evil acts have been recorded as being inspired by associating with the book. In the book, the white extremists’ rebellion against society has been depicted to the extent that it has been used in the promotion of white supremacy, which is an ideology of the far-right conservative movement.
In this essay, we will look at the ideology of the Turner Diaries from a cultural criminology point of view and consider several interpretations of the book and its reflection on the white supremacist ideology. The essay shall also discuss the possibility that the book has been instrumental and has assumed a serious role in far-right radicalization. It will provide references from many sources, including academic literature on cultural criminology, white supremacy, and right-wing ideology, as well as other primary sources like Turner Diaries.
Book Synopsis
The Turner Diaries by William Luther Pierce, which has been referred to as an “outrageous orc, chauvinist, anti-American and, pro-fascist, disgusting, racially charged piece of trash” emanates from this unsophisticated author (Egan, 2024). It can be said that this book is a remarkable milestone in the racist movement and has been used as a source of inspiration for many acts of terrorism as well as several murders.
The setting of the novel occurs in the US in 1991 and is based on the act of confiscation of all private firearms from private individuals. It tells a story about a terrorist conspiracy group, which is a rebellion begun by an armed insurgent. The group funds itself through criminal activity and seeks to begin a new racial conflict between whites and non-whites. The work is fashioned as a series of diary entries by the protagonist, Earl Turner, discovered and chronicled by a future historian.
The Turner Diaries is part of a long line of dystopian novels with far-right leanings and containing racist themes, starting with pro-slavery narratives prior to the Civil War (Berger, 2016). The book’s crude style and violent content mirror the approach taken in similar extremist publications (Berger, 2016). It has been criticized for its simplistic writing, lack of literary merit and inconsistency in terms of internal logic (Egan, 2024). Nonetheless, its impact on the racist milieu is significant because the book has been referred to as the basic text of the American neo-Nazi movement.
The main character’s drive in The Turner Diaries is based on his burning urge and desire to take immediate action instead of accepting the system as it is: corrupt and oppressive. The underground terrorist cell to which Earl Turner, the main figure in the novel, belongs, and its goal is the elimination of all non-whites on the planet by overthrowing the government (Berger, 2016; Toobin, 2021). Turner is fuelled by a notion and belief of white supremacy and the concept that the Jews and non-whites have control over the system, which suffices and advocates for the destruction of the current American society.
Turner’s anger is also fed by a rising resentment and frustration at the government’s executing confiscation of privately owned guns, which he sees as a threat to his freedom and that of his fellow white people. As such, he holds the conviction that the only way to re-establish order and to survive as a white race requires the use of violence.
When the insurrection commences, one of its methods is to accumulate money, which Turner and his followers do through involvement in petty crimes such as robbery and counterfeiting (Berger, 2016; Lewis et al., 2023). They also provide security tips, including strong weapon storage, creating a clandestine organization structure, and secure communication strategies.
After the initiation of the insurrection, Turner is absorbed in it, even when it calls for the methodical murder of people whom they do not share the same racial heritage with. In his ideology, he believes this must happen to build a utopian world in which whites can thrive, survive, and prosper (Berger, 2016; Lewis et al., 2023). In the novel, Turner’s motivation can be seen as an overview of the racist sentiments with a diverse belief, accentuating the need for action and the situation’s urgency. Such kind of actions are helpful to their movement because they help white supremacists achieve their goal.
Why were Turner’s diaries considered controversial and blamed for criminogenic culture?
The Turner Diaries depicts an account of a violent revolution started by white supremacists in the United States, leading to a nuclear war that had been aimed at terminating and killing these ‘Non-whites.’ This portrayal of violence and racism reflects and reinforces a particular cultural perspective, in this case, a white supremacist worldview (Pierce, n.d.; Ray, n.d.). The book’s popularity within the white supremacist community points out the cultural power of the movement and its ability to influence enough to exert criminal behaviour on the group, the fact that such works are very alluring to the perceived cultural predominance in ethics.
From the standpoint of orthodox criminology, the Turner Diaries constitutes a literary work that essentially legitimizes and promotes criminal behaviour by encouraging extremism and embracing racism as its central theme and message. The book’s portrayal of the white supremacy nature of the revolution, the massacre, and the elimination of non-whites have been illustrated as the description of the white supremacists doing their own criminal actions that will be a consequence of reading the book(Hamm, 2005). Implementing what the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) solicitation recommends, namely the interruption of criminal skill development as well as the removal of criminal opportunities would be an adequate measure.
In this way, Turner’s diaries can be construed as a text reflecting and supporting the opinion of a particular group of the society which is white supremacist. The representation of violence, racial and white supremacist movement is a cultural and ideological orientation of the white supremacist movement and the book is sacrosanct and used to perpetuate and validate these cultural and ideological values and ideologies within the movement(Ray, n.d., Sattar, 2019). The book’s capacity to motivate criminal behaviour is a reflection of the influence of white supremacist movement ideologies and cultural influence and is a reflection of the cultural appeal to the movement’s ideological appeal.
The Turner Diaries is a complex text that challenges simplified media effect theories and highlights the complex ways in which media can both reflect and shape cultural values and beliefs. The book’s portrayal of violence and racism is a reflection of the cultural values and beliefs of the white supremacist movement, and the book serves to reinforce and legitimize these values and beliefs within the movement.
A work such as The Turner Diaries can be seen as an elaborate text which contradicts the media hypothesis and especially, concerning the nuanced ways through which the media acts as a reflection as well as a shaper of a society’s cultural codes and beliefs. The white supremacist movement in the book is depicted as founded on violence and racism, and the author also further promotes such sort of beliefs and ideologies within the movement. Celebration of the book as a major source for crime shows the promotion and popularity of the movement’s ideology among the white supremacy culture (Power, 2004). The book’s ability to inspire criminal behavior is a reflection of the cultural power of the movement’s ideology, and the book’s popularity within the white supremacist community is a reflection of the cultural appeal of the movement’s ideology to a cultural class.
Cultural Criminology and the Turner Diaries
Cultural criminology is a unique and innovative stance towards the study of crime that takes crime and its control as integral aspects of culture. This school of thought views crime and the agencies and institutions of crime control as cultural constructs, which must be understood in terms of the meanings they carry (Ray, n.d.). Among the aims of cultural criminology is to spot the situations when certain internal psychic and emotional tensions are present and need to be resolved by people and how, when triggered these tensions are manifested through criminal behaviour.
Cultural criminology has been applied to a range of disciplines within criminology, including the study of media representations of crime, the un-criminalized deviance of political and financial elite and the public display of emotions of the crime victims by the victim (Ray, n.d.). Cultural criminologists argue that many of the contemporary criminological theories are quite vague about characterizing specific definitions of crime and crime control.
The aspect of cultural criminology is illustrated in the novel, The Turner Diaries through several ways. The novel reveals that the United States went through a violent revolution that ended in nuclear war, which led to a racial war where all non-whites became extinct. This depiction of racial violence and racial hatred is a clear proof of cultural criminology in effect since cultural norms inspire and develop the process of crime.
By claiming that, Jews and non-whites are embodiments of evil and are they are responsible for destructive values, is a clear example of cultural criminology because it highlights the role of culture in shaping and reinforcing hateful, discriminatory attitudes and racial sentiments. By doing this, the book spreads criminal ideas that bring about stereotypical conceptions of Jews and blacks as wicked people.
The book clearly becomes a training manual for white supremacists organizations and reveals the representation of cultural criminology as it highlights how culture acts as a vessel for moulding, shaping and strengthening the criminal behaviour. The book focuses on whites being trained to govern as the supreme race and maintain their mastery and dominance over the other races while at the same time contemplating to exterminate them all-together. This depiction promotes criminal behavior by influencing the readers who are encouraged to act as white supremacists. The effect that the book has on the concepts of white supremacist and of committing crimes is an evident aspect of cultural criminology because it shows how culture can influence and reinforce people’s behaviour leading to the commission of crimes. The book draws a picture that the White supremacy is reigning over the other races and possibly they are the supreme race.
The media’s argument that the book is criminogenic is, in this case, the epitome of cultural criminology, since it illustrates how culture, which is a crucial element in the society, shapes and enforces crime. Regardless of what might be said about the book, or its usage as a guide to achieve the dominance of the whites in the United States of America, it has after its publication, been associated with acts of criminal nature.
The book’s portrayal of a violent revolution in the United States and the ensuing nuclear war serving as a race war and then thereafter whites emerging as the masters of the former non-white race is a clear application of cultural criminology. The depiction of a violent revolution in the United States provides a basis for a cultural revolution where the white supremacists are the leaders above all other persons.
The book’s depiction of a violent white supremacist insurrection has been seen as a call to action for racists with varying beliefs, emphasizing the urgency of the situation and the need for immediate action to achieve their goals. This is a clear example of cultural criminology, as it highlights the role of culture in shaping and reinforcing criminal behavior and extremist ideologies.
The novel’s portrayal of a bloodthirsty racist revolution is summon among the followers of the white race with diverse attitudes and emphasizes the overwhelming nature of the circumstances as well as the urgency of acting quickly to achieve the intended goals. Such an instance signifies the cultural criminology through which culture becomes instrumental for creating and sustaining criminal behaviour and terrorist ideologies.
The role played by the book in spreading the idea of a ‘leaderless resistance’, which has been picked and adopted by white supremacist groups constitutes a clear example of cultural criminology. Such notion entails autonomous, cells which are not led by a central authority and is frequently adopted by these groups because it depicts the culture and meaning attributed by that philosophy which is propagated in the Turner Diaries.
The Turner Diaries is a novel which portrays cultural criminology in the following ways; it is the representation of violence and racial hatred, the Jews with perfection of evil and destructive forces, it is used like a white supremacist group training manual and finally its role in generation of white supremacist thinking and media claims of its criminal behaviour capacity. These representations bring to light the vital role that culture plays in not only forming but also maintaining and reinforcing the structure of crime and thereby, emphasize cultural criminology as a rather separate approach that spells the way crime is studied.
Significance of the Book in White Supremacist Ideology
William Luther Pierce’s novel The Turner’s Tales marks a classic moment in the history of the thinking aimed at defining a White Supremacist ideology as a representation of cultural criminology. The book published in 1978 under the pen name Andrew Macdonald became known as “the bible of the racist right” regarding domestic extremism as identified by the Federal bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Lewis et al., 2023). The book has been essential in shaping the ideology of white supremacist movements, particularly in the United States.
The book’s importance lies in the fact that it presents the violent white supremacist takeover in the United States, which has been perceived as the means for the spreading of racist ideas in various ways. The Turner Diaries has been used by various white supremacist organizations as a training manual that afterwards have led to their participation in actions of terrorism and violence (Alter, 2021). The novel depicts realities around us, as a clear instance being the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that was carried out by an ideological inspired by The Turner Diaries.
The Turner Diaries has played a crucial role in the development and propagation of white supremacist ideology, particularly in the United States. Its influence can be seen in the adoption of the leaderless resistance concept and its impact on the evolution of white supremacist movements.
The attack on white supremacy as a worldview is demonstrated in the book’s influence over the leaderless resistance idea and the proposed decentralized model of resistance which has inspired groups like Atomwaffen Division and The Base (Lewis et al., 2023). Apart from that, the Turner Diaries was also viewed as a core text that most white supremacists groups used in shaping revolutionary cell-based violence and inspiring acts of domestic terrorism (Lewis et al., 2023). The Turner Diaries is evidently a major contributor in the construction and promulgation of white supremacist ideology, largely in the context of the United States. The influence of this book’s ideology can be seen in the implementation of opposition without a strong leadership or its role as a factor that shapes white supremacist movements.
Why turner diaries is considered criminogenic and how it disrupts simplified media theories.
The Turner Diaries is considered criminogenic due to its hateful rhetoric that pushes the reader into the role of the main character and in turn, their views get shaped and will eventually lead to violence. Firstly, the book’s portrayal of violence and racial prejudice might affect the views of someone who tends to be a radical (Wolfocwiz et al., 2022). Next, it disrupts simplified media effect theories by showcasing how narratives like those in the book can lead to radicalization, challenging the notion that media has a uniform impact on individuals.
The media-based portrayal of the book conceives a world in which characters and readers are in a world of radical ideology which highlights the complex ways in which written media can shape beliefs and behaviors (Wolfocwiz et al., 2022). It shows how exposure to extremist content can contribute to radicalization, emphasizing the role of media in influencing individuals (Hamm, 2005). Lastly, The Turner Diaries’ visualization of a violent revolution reveals the possibility and potential for media to inspire criminal behavior and radical actions.
Orthodox and Cultural Criminology Perspectives
The Turner Diaries is a complex text that does not succumb to media effect theories that are categorized as simplistic. On the contrary, this novel shows the intricate dynamics that bond media with the culture, conferring both a downward meaning, as a reflection of cultural values, and an upward meaning, as an influence of cultural beliefs. The book has a real-life example of violence and racism that shows the type of culture and conviction that white supremacy comprise. By reading the book, the white supremacists reinforce and legitimate their convictions in the white supremacy movement (Ray, n.d.; Sattar, 2019). The book’s influence on the criminal activities of the movement is induced by the cultural dominance of the movement’s ideology, and the high popularity of the book and the movement among the white supremacists community is a reflection of the cultural attractiveness of the movement’s ideology.
The Turner Diaries is a book that not only portrays itself as a text devoted to criminal activity, it does so through the use of explicit descriptions of violence and bigotry (Hamm, 2005). A character in the book is bringing about the revolution by killing non-whites and promoting violence and racism. Thus, this point of view can be used as a source of motivation urging white nationalists to engage in racial and violent tendencies by the fact that reading the book may stimulate them to get into criminal activity.
The Turner Diaries can be perceived as a cultural work which, from the cultural criminological perspective, stands for a certain cultural view, namely, a perspective built around the concepts of white supremacy. With all the violence and racism used in the book, the author just wants to show how deeply shaped by cultural values and beliefs is the ideology of white supremacy movement (Ray, n.d.). So, in turn, the book acts as a source of reinforcement and legitimization of those beliefs within a movement.
Conclusion
As the intersection between the literary work and cultural values with its possible biases is identified, the final conclusion of the analysis of The Turner Diaries through both orthodox and cultural criminology resolves the evolving relationship between the text, cultural values and criminal behaviour. The book’s espousal of violence and racism can be considered a starting factor that is capable of igniting criminal action in people, and such individuals can end up becoming extremely radical. Effectively, this facilitates the NIJ Solicitation’s recognition of the fact that the culture has great importance in the development of criminal skills and the processes necessary to commit criminal offenses. Although it shines the light on how the book goes hand in hand with a racist ideology, yet brings forth its cultural power and appeal by portraying the things from a racist perspective. The Turner Diaries tends to confound the media effect theories that would depict media influence as straightforward by depicting the complex status of media, culture and criminal actions as they challenging the notion of a uniform impact of media on individuals. The cultural criminology analysis of The Turner Diaries reveals a possibility of the book triggering radicalization and criminal behaviour among readers due to its presentation of violence, racism and extremist ideologies. The book’s popularity within racist society and its ability to stimulate criminal behavior are indicative of the cultural influence and power embedded within its narrative. Employing a two-fold approach of cultural as well as orthodox criminology to scrutinize The Turner Diaries, a more profound appreciation is developed about the role of cultural values, media depictions and extremist ideologies and how they work together to foster violence and sustain criminology culture. This analysis highlights the intricate observations outlining the fraught intersections of media, culture and crime as the expert calls for the nuanced approaches for the depiction of such complex issues in texts such as The Turner Diaries.
References
Alter, A. (2021). How ‘The Turner diaries’ incites white supremacists. The New York Times, 12.https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/books/turner-diaries-white-supremacists.html
Berger, J. M. (2016). The Turner legacy. The International Center for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT). Retrieved from: DOI, 10(11). https://www.icct.nl/sites/default/files/2023-01/Special-Edition-1-3.pdf
Egan, N. (2024, January 17). The Turner Diaries. Encyclopedia Britannica. htts://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Turner-Diaries
Hamm, M. S. (2005). Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research and Prevention. (n.d.). Office of Justice Programs. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/211203.pdf
Lewis, J., & Ingram, H. J. (2023). Founding Fathers of the Modern American Neo-Nazi Movement: The Impacts and Legacies of Louis Beam, William Luther Pierce, and James Mason. https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs5746/files/2023-05/founding-fathers-final.pdf
Pierce, W. (n.d.). Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/william-pierce
Power, C. (2004). Room to Roam. England’s Irish Travellers. Report commissioned by the Commission Fund. https://www.gypsy-traveller.org/pdfs/RoomtoRoam.pdf
Ray L. (n.d.). Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research – University of Kent. https://www.kent.ac.uk/social-policy-sociology-social-research/people/1938
Sattar, A. (2019). Punishment and the origins of international human rights law. Criminal Punishment and Human Rights, 100-124. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429459696-5
Toobin, J. (2023, June 29). Why is this happening? Discussing Timothy McVeigh and the rise of right-wing extremism with MSNBC.com. https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-podcast/why-is-this-happening/discussing-timothy-mcveigh-rise-right-wing-extremism-jeffrey-toobin-podcast-n1306081
William Luther Pierce. (n.d.). Counter Extremism Project. https://www.counterextremism.com/extremists/william-luther-pierce
Wolfowicz, M., Hasisi, B., & Weisburd, D. (2022). What are the effects of different elements of media on radicalization outcomes? A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1244
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