Adam Burston CV

I am sociologist whose research identifies the ideological and social processes that cultivate radicalization into extremism and build resilience against extremism. My primary body of work investigates how social movements attempt to preserve and expand inequality through innovative technology use. A second line of work on stereotypes and stigma explains how supremacist ideologies become imbricated in the fabric of daily life. As an ethnographer, I study the interactional, organizational, and leadership dynamics through which activists build solidarity, create new tactics, and execute their plans. My current book project, The Origins of Online Hate: The Tactical and Technological Underpinnings of a Hate Epidemic, examines how white supremacist extremists executed a decades-long plan to grow their movement in digital spaces while continuously incorporating new technologies into their tactical repertoire. I have published in the Annual Review of Sociology, Kalfou, and the Police Journal.