Dr. Elizabeth Pearson presents on the mental and emotional tolls of studying extremism online at Institute for Research on Male Supremacism conference on supremacism and authoritarianism
Criminology lecturer Dr. Elizabeth Pearson presented findings from the REASSURE (Researcher Security Safety and Resilience) Project at an international conference on supremacism and authoritarianism. The conference was held by the US-based Institute for Research on Male Supremacism. Dr. Pearson presented on the 1 December panel, Mental and Emotional Health Tolls in Research on Supremacism and Extremism.
Dr. Pearson presented findings on the harms to researchers of engaging with extreme right material online, based on REASSURE research interviewing 39 academics at global north universities and think tanks. She outlined the physical harms, such as death threats; the online abuses, such as trolling and doxing; and the emotional harms caused. She noted that academia lacked the necessary language to adequately record experiences, or good safety protocols. It was therefore lagging behind other professions, such as journalism, the police or industry including tech companies. Dr. Pearson also outlined the professional harms caused to especially early career researchers and women, due to the silencing effects of suffering harassment or abuse on the basis of identity. She therefore emphasised the need for institutions to take greater responsibility, through consultation with researchers.
The discussion included Alexandria Onuoha, from Suffolk University, who talked about black women’s experiences of community and self-protection; Blu Buchanan, from the University of North Carolina, who emphasized the need for collective action; and Dr. Meredith Pruden chairing, from the School of Communication & Media at Kennesaw State.
The REASSURE report will be published in January 2023. REASSURE is a report from VOX-Pol, the online terrorism and extremism research network. Co-authors on the report are Dr. Joe Whittaker from CYTREC at Swansea University, Till Baaken from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Sara Zeiger, Farangiz Atamuradova and Professor Maura Conway of Dublin City University.
