The purpose of Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White is twofold. First, we provide a necessary and timely discussion of present-day youth-oriented groups in the White Power Movement, what we term alt-right gangs, and how they need to be explicitly incorporated into the current paradigm of street gang research. This goal is centered on providing academics, students, policymakers, and law enforcement with a better understanding and, ideally, knowledge that can be harnessed for combating membership into the groups. Second, we develop a pathway forward to steer future research in studying alt-right gangs, along with their members.

Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White is the first text to conceptualize alt-right youth groups and situate their existence within the framework of street gangs. As gang researchers, guided by our interdisciplinary training, we synthesize research across an array of academic literature including criminology, sociology, communication studies, social movements, political science, history, cultural studies, religious studies, and computer science to stress the necessity to deal with alt-right gangs seriously and refrain from disregarding these groups as an extremist subculture or youthful phase.

Despite the desire to treat alt-right / far-right groups as nothing more than atypical or radical youth, there is a substantial subset of alt-righters that are involved in delinquent, street-oriented youth groups (e.g., racist skinheads, Proud Boys). It is these youth, and their alt-right gangs, that this book endeavors to understand. While the aim of Alt-Right Gangs: A Hazy Shade of White is to examine the overlap between alt-right gangs and conventional street gangs, there is much research needed to fully understand the concurrence between these groups, especially considering how to apply gang prevention, intervention, and suppression programs and policies to these youth.

Praise for Alt-Right Gangs

“An important addition to the limited scholarship on the alt-right…..The work serves as a primer on the movement to the uninitiated, giving explanations of the ubiquitous alt-right memes that proliferate online as well as covering the cultural symbols, music, and clothing embraced by the Proud Boys and other groups.”
–Kirkus Reviews

“a book that people from the Oregon Capitol building to the classroom and everywhere in between should pick up”
–Henry Houston, Eugene Weekly

“a greatly needed primer on alt-right gangs and wider white power youth movements… an accessible overview into the background of alt-right gangs and the broader WPM… a valuable source to any students or practitioners in need of a comprehensive and coherent overview of contemporary alt-right gangs.”
–Matthew A. Hall, Ethnic and Racial Studies

“the book is vital for scholars, members of law enforcement, and anyone else seeking to understand the contemporary and future threat these groups [alt-right gangs] pose to the United States… has considerable value as a contemporary synthesis that demystifies these groups[alt-right gangs] for scholars, policy makers, and students alike and can be used in both undergraduate and graduate education.”
–John Leverso, Social Forces

“A timely update to research on white and right-wing gangs in the United States…at a critical era in time in which these groups have been actively trying to destabilize the United States.”
— Christian Bolden, Criminal Justice Review

“An important effort to identify convergence between our knowledge of the dynamics of street gangs and the current developments within the violent American far-right.”
— Arie Perliger, Criminal Law and Justice Books

” This book contributes to the understanding of gangs and advocates for the inclusion of alt-right gangs as a part of future gang research, …. is an excellent source for researchers, criminal justice practitioners, and law enforcement to identify alt-right gang activity for youth to deter future recruitment.”
–Karla G. Zachary, Theory in Action

“Valasik and Reid present knowledgeable research to the reader that is easily understood and digested. Alt-Right Gangs can and should be used by policymakers, law enforcement officials, and everyday Americans to understand the growing problem posed by the white power movement in America.”
— Mary Anna Mancuso, The Topline: Democracy’s Digest

“Alt-Right Gangs is an incredibly thought-provoking book. It is absolutely worth reading and presents unique ideas that criminal justice scholars and practitioners must wrestle with..”
–Nicholas C. Mills, International Journal of Rural Criminology

Reviews of Alt-Right Gangs

“An accessible discussion of contemporary alt-right groups that situates them in today’s political and cultural context. By drawing parallels between these groups and traditional street gangs, the authors are able to discuss risk and protective factors that are outside ideology, tapping into important prevention and intervention strategies.”
—Ráchael A. Powers, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati

“Alt-Right Gangs is a timely book that examines the myths and realities of a resurgent white power movement. Shannon E. Reid and Matthew Valasik have produced a primer on the alt-right that promises to spark lively debate among social scientists.”
–James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University

“A smart and meticulous exploration of how street gang scholarship can inform our understanding of the white power movement in general and youth-oriented alt-right gangs in particular. Not only does it provide readers with a nuanced and carefully crafted account of the similarities between alt-right gangs and conventional street gangs, it also provides practitioners and policy makers with realistic and useful strategies to combat such groups. This is an essential reference work for understanding alt-right gangs and will be the go-to book in this regard.”
–Ryan Scrivens, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Michigan State University

“Contributes a nuanced understanding of the prevention and intervention methods used to address the growing threat that alt-right gangs pose in the United States. Reid and Valasik provide practitioners working to counter violent extremism with direction for creating modeling for new programs and strategic development.”
–Bradley Galloway, Research and Intervention Specialist, Organization for the Prevention of Violence