Private defense as a public good: threat, trust, and emotive pathways to armed mobilization in the United States

Patterson Perkins, Ariel Ann (2023) Private defense as a public good: threat, trust, and emotive pathways to armed mobilization in the United States. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Why do individuals feel motivated to join armed community defense groups? The proliferation of non-state armed groups across the United States (US) since the 1970s offers a puzzling case of defensive action without clearly observable threats. Given the relatively high internal security of the US, what exactly are individuals coming together to arm against? This comparative politics research presents a qualitative case study of micro- and meso-level mobilization among firearms training and armed community defense groups in the US. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with armed group members between 2019 and 2021, I contribute new data from unsampled armed groups with divergent political orientations and constituency-based appeals (e.g., Socialist Rifle Association, Militia Movement, Pink Pistols). Building on established structural relationships identified in comparative politics, this research unpacks the worldviews and perceptions of actors at lower levels of analysis. Through participant accounts I demonstrate how actors from varied positionalities similarly interpret salient events and structural changes as threats. Accounts in this research illuminate the importance of considering actors’ perceptions of political and institutional distrust in our explanations of US armed action. I illustrate how armed group members perceive firearms preparedness as an act of public service that counteracts government failure. In providing what government cannot or will not, armed defense offers a civic-oriented and ‘legitimate’ way for individuals to practice and arm with the tools of violence. Armed actors in this research illustrate how individuals perceive threat through socially situated contexts. Understanding how threat is constructed and acted upon between and within armed groups in the US offers insights for comparative political action studies of armed politics, gun wielding, and political behavior. This research suggests threat is mediated by actors’ perceptions and constrained by institutional contexts that may influence how individuals decide to engage in political action. The tentative, theory-building implications unpacked in this research point to the importance of considering emotive pathways to political action, as well as how threat may heighten sentiments of not only fear, but also 'meaningfulness'.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2023 Ariel Ann Patterson Perkins
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JC Political theory U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Sets:	Departments > Government
Supervisor:	Hertog, Steffen and Kissane, Bill
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4676

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