The portrayal of Sweden in American alt-right media, as exemplified by Breitbart News

Sammanfattning: The alt-right is a fairly recent addition to the pantheon of political ideologies. Its rise to prominence is seen by many as the driving force behind Donald Trump’s presidency. The youth of the ideology has also created a natural relationship between it and the fields of new media and cyberculture. In alt-right media, the topic of Sweden is frequently recurring, and the theme is most often of a nation heading for ruins. This paper sets out to identify and analyse the arguments that alt-right media typically uses in their depiction of Sweden, and the underlying premises behind the arguments. To that end, the basic history and ideological framework of the alt-right is presented and examined. Breitbart News is then identified as an alt-right publication and a leading platform for alt-right thought. By using the Toulmin method of argument analysis, Breitbart’s arguments in their articles about Sweden can be analysed. The results show that Breitbart depicts Sweden as a country where immigration from non-European Islamic countries has led to a society rife with violent and sexual crime. Also, that the Swedish government and media are complicit in a cover-up to conceal the truth of migrant criminality from the Swedish people. Additionally, the results establish that Breitbart’s arguments are fundamentally rooted in alt-right ideology.