Anti-Migrant Groups in Calais and Dover

This chapter focuses on the online social movement activity of anti-migrant groups in Calais and Dover from 2015 to 2021. It stems from research conducted during a British Academy Newton International Fellowship at the University of Manchester between 2019 and 2021. These groups, most of which have a far-right background, are engaged in a repertoire of action that may be understood simultaneously as social movement activity and as vigilantism. While part of their activity takes place on the streets with demonstrations and direct actions, most of their activity takes place online, through social media platforms, and most of their street presence may be understood as performances aimed at social media audiences. Therefore, the activity of these groups falls within the scope of online deviance for two reasons. Firstly, they attempt to frame refugees as criminal populations to be policed, so these groups intend to define what constitutes deviance through a series of online campaigns. Secondly, their actions can be considered as a form of deviance: vigilantism, but also hate speech. This has pushed these groups to implement mitigating strategies in order to avoid falling under the law or being deplatformed

Calais · Criminology · Direct action · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Social media · Social movement · Sociology · Computer Science · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration