A social constructionist analysis of Canadian conservative blogs on Islamic terrorism

This is a mixed methods content analysis of discourse in the Canadian conservative blogosphere regarding Islamic terrorism. The data are primarily from three years’ worth of entries posted at Canada’s most popular political blog, smalldeadanimals.com (SDA). The analysis reveals that conservative discourse contains apprehension about global demographic trends, a critique of fundamental aspects of Islamic cultures and religious doctrine, and contempt for Western welfare and multicultural policies. The conservative blogging community also strongly disapproves of, and is seeking to reform, Canada’s Human Rights Commissions (HRCs), which the conservatives claim are impeding legitimate criticism of militant Islam. The thesis examines conservatives’ discourse as claims-making activities following a “natural history,” described in the social constructionist literature on the creation of “social problems.” This natural history proceeds through four stages, starting with a group’s assertions of a putative societal threat, and finishing with calls to reform institutions designed to deal with similar claims.