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“Let the tournament for the woke begin!”: Euro 2020 and the reproduction of Cultural Marxist conspiracies in online criticisms of the “take the knee” protest

Black, Jack orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-1595-5083, Fletcher, Thomas orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-4618-5480, Doidge, Mark orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6858-3914, Kearns, Colm orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-6819-8488, Kilvington, Daniel orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3361-0860, Liston, Katie orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-3898-0166, Lynn, Theo orcid logoORCID: 0000-0001-9284-7580, Rosati, Pierangelo orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-6070-0426 and Sinclair, Gary orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-2181-7736 (2024) “Let the tournament for the woke begin!”: Euro 2020 and the reproduction of Cultural Marxist conspiracies in online criticisms of the “take the knee” protest. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 47 (10). pp. 2036-2059. ISSN 0141-9870

Abstract
Exploring online criticisms of the “take the knee” protest during “Euro 2020”, this article examines how alt- and far-right conspiracies were both constructed and communicated via the social media platform, Twitter. By providing a novel exploration of alt-right conspiracies during an international football tournament, a qualitative thematic analysis of 1,388 original tweets relating to Euro 2020 was undertaken. The findings reveal how, in criticisms levelled at both “wokeism” and the Black Lives Matter movement, anti-white criticisms of the “take the knee” protest were embroiled in alt-right conspiracies that exposed an assumed Cultural Marxist, “woke agenda” in the tournament’s organisation and mainstream media coverage. In conclusion, it is argued that conspiratorial discourses, associated with the alt-right, provided a framework through which the protest could be understood. This emphasises how the significance of conspiracy functions to promote the wider dissemination of alt-right ideology across popular cultural contexts, such as sport.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Conspiracy; Twitter; online hate; Black lives matter; anti-white racism; Football
Subjects:Social Sciences > Political science
Social Sciences > Sociology
Social Sciences > Speech
Social Sciences > Racism
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
Publisher:Informa UK Limited
Official URL:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:32817
Deposited On:01 Jul 2026 09:32 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 01 Jul 2026 09:32
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