Journal Articles

It's Not a Lie if You Believe It: Donald Trump's Gonzo Expertise as Dramaturgical Performance

R.J. Maratea

The American Sociologist (2024) 55(4): 412-435

This article introduces the concept of gonzo expertise to contextualize the rhetorical techniques used by Donald Trump to frame himself as a credible expert on any topic regardless of his intellectual interest or actual knowledge of those matters. Using a samply of 57 interview and public event transcripts, four rhetorical framing techniques are identified that validate Trump's problem-solving expertise and authenticate himself as the primary definer of what is real and represents truth fo millions of Americans, while simultaneously casting doubt on social reality by attacking facts and delegitimizing the social actors and institutions that confer status and legitimacy on traditional experts who validate those facts. First, Trump establishes hyper-masculine dominance over factual reality. Second, he directs focus away from rationality and logic by appealing to emotion, outrage, and fear. Third, Trump uses populist savior imagery to foster cohesion, trust, and compliance among supporters. Finally, Trump articulates an us-versus-them worldview that frames his truth as a moral imperative that must be believed without equivocation.

The Art of the Spiel: Analyzing Donald Trump's Tweets as Gonzo Storytelling

Brian Monahan and R.J. Maratea

Symbolic Interaction (2021) 44(4): 699-727

Abstract

This article examines the rhetorical structure of Donald Trump's Twitter communication during the 2016 presidential campaign. Several recurring frames and themes are identified and the analysis traces how these elements intersect with one another to build and advance a narrative that depicts a world overrun with dire threats, thus providing a symbolic backdrop for outlandish rhetoric and espousal of far-reaching policies portrayed as necessary to protect idealized morality and social order. Findings suggest new ways to assess the content of Trump's frequent tweets, as well as the need to better understand what the success of his "gonzo" story may reveal about modern political communication and the media ecosystem.

Digital Ethnography in an Age of Information Warfare: Notes from the Field

Philip R. Kavanaugh and R.J. Maratea

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (2020) 49(1): 3-26

Abstract

In this article we engage the nature and role of the Internet in ethnographic research and reflect on how ethnographic methodologies may be adapted when researching digital forms of communication. We further consider how recent shifts in both the production and dissemination of textual discourse in networked media environments complicates conventional approaches to digital ethnography. Drawing on examples from our field research, our principal objective is to apply Foucauldian structural approaches to David Altheide's ethnographic content analysis to better contextualize the study of digital communiqué in a cultural moment where discourses are increasingly surveilled, modified, censored and weaponized.

Identity, Resistance, and Moderation in an Online Community of Zoosexuals 

Philip R. Kavanaugh and R.J. Maratea          

Sexualities (2016) 19(1/2): 3-24

Abstract

Regulation plays a key role in the construction of sexuality. Given the extent to which new forms of communication technology have had a liberating effect on the production of new discourses emanating from historically marginalized sexual communities, this study examines how zoosexuals active in an online community work to construct, assert and manage their sex-based identities, situate their sexual practices, attempt to resolve ethical dilemmas, as well as moderate and sanction dissidents for the greater civility of zoosexual discourse. We conclude by further considering the complications inherent in accomplishing these interactive tasks in a virtual space.

Online Claims-making: The NRA and Gun Advocacy in Cyberspace 

R.J. Maratea          

Qualitative Sociology Review (2015) 11(2): 144-159 

Abstract

This article examines the Internet’s emergent role in the claims-making process. My central premise is while Internet technology provides lay citizens with a mass mediated platform to distribute claims publically, power dynamics in the public sphere have remained relatively stable: Insiders and lobbyists continue to be powerful cultural voices; the press still functions as a cultural gatekeeper of newsworthiness; most people continue to have relatively little social authority; and the least powerful risk being completely left out of a digital society. Using the National Rifle Association (NRA) web presence as a case study, I describe the Internet as a vast collection of interconnected public cyber-arenas where problem claims are continuously disseminated, global communication is facilitated via online advocacy networks, and claimants utilize novel cyber-strategies to mobilize supporters. In doing so, I examine how cyber-arenas fundamentally differ from more static traditional claims-making arenas like television, radio, and print publication. I conclude by considering the extent to which historically powerful insider claims-making groups like the NRA are actually best positioned to succeed in a supposedly democratized new media world.

Crime Control as Mediated Spectacle: The Institutionalization of Gonzo Rhetoric in Modern Media and Politics

R.J. Maratea and Brian Monahan          

Symbolic Interaction (2013) 36(3): 261-274 

Abstract

This study examines contemporary crime and punishment discourse in mass media to better understand the institutionalization of hyper-punitive sanctions as acceptable forms of social control. Our principle focus is on gonzo rhetoric, or the discourse and symbolism used to promote and justify exaggerated acts of punishment. Using a content analysis of 136 broadcast transcripts, we examine the rhetorical techniques employed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County, Arizona, in order to show how this brand of “crime talk” has become a central component of modern crime control culture.  We suggest that the appeal of gonzo rhetoric is rooted in longstanding cultural assumptions about crime and disorder. 

Practices of Inverting the Law: Internal Colonialism on Fort Belknap 

Giancarlo Panagia and R.J. Maratea          

Green Theory & Praxis (2012) 6(1): 35-54 

Abstract

This study attempts to examine governmental complicity with corporate malfeasance; it interprets how the original trust doctrine has been misapplied by federal agencies in such a way that the practice of internal colonialism subsidizes corporate control over indigenous peoples’ lands and resources.  These governmental policies are veiled under the rhetoric that utilitarianism promotes the well-being for the people of the American West.  However, utilitarian practices come at the sacrifice of “the others.”  Utilitarian logic supports policies, which promote the commodification of nature.  As long as the goal of furthering production for the greatest sum of good for the majority is satisfied, the others’ interests become, from a bureaucratic standpoint, inconsequential.

Deviant Identity in Online Contexts: New Directives in the Study of a Classic Concept

R.J. Maratea and Philip R. Kavanaugh          

Sociology Compass (2012) 6(2): 102-112 

Abstract

This article provides an overview of emerging research into the concept of deviant identity by highlighting major new directions in cyber-deviance scholarship. We suggest that the examination of deviance in online settings offers unique new insights into the processes of identity construction and reinforcement, role-play, and the social organization of deviant communities. We conclude by considering developments that may advance the literature on deviant identity in real world spaces, as well as expand the conceptual utility of deviance for other subareas of sociology.

Screwing the Pooch: Legitimizing Accounts in a Zoophilia On-line Community 

R.J. Maratea          

Deviant Behavior (2011) 32(10): 918-943 

Abstract

This article seeks to extend existing research that addresses how deviant individuals use Internet technology to communicate accounts that neutralize hostile labels associated with their behaviors. Data were collected from a message board dedicated to zoophilia; the sample was comprised of 4,983 individual posts drawn from 87 discussion threads. Findings suggest that the posters routinely justify their actions through the production of neutralizing accounts. In particular, three new types of accounts were documented: appeals to enlightenment, claims of cultural diffusion, and neutralization by comparison.

Life Experience and the Value-Free Foundations of Blumer’s Collective Behavior Theory  

David Keys and R.J. Maratea         

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (2011) 47(2): 173-186 

Abstract

Herbert Blumer stated throughout his long career that his ideas regarding collective behavior originated with his introduction to pragmatist philosophy under the auspices of G. H. Mead at the University of Chicago. Blumer’s biography however presents a different picture. First-hand experiences with mob behavior, collective outrage, and the fall-out associated with Blumer’s public utterances early in his career may have had significant impact on the eventual corpus of collective behavior.

Winner of the Society for the Study of Social Problems 2008 Social Problems Theory Outstanding Article Award

The e-Rise and Fall of Social Problems: The Blogosphere as a Public Arena 

R.J. Maratea          

Social Problems (2008) 55(1): 139-160 

Abstract

Social problems theory has yet to fully address the impact that new communication technologies are having on the claimsmaking process. This article examines the emergence of the blogosphere as a cultural phenomenon that provides claimsmakers with a powerful new public arena to advance social problem claims. Using Hilgartner and Bosk’s (1988) public arenas model of social problem construction, blog-generated problem claims are examined to analyze how Internet driven social problems compete for public attention. Findings suggest that blogs make the claimsmaking process more efficient, offer expanded carrying capacity compared to traditional arenas, and provide outsider claimsmakers with greater opportunity to have a voice in social problems construction. Still, only a small number of blogs have become recognized as claimsmaking arenas; they still rely on traditional principles of selection; and bloggers face the same competition for mainstream media attention as claimsmakers using traditional arenas.

News Constructions of Fear and Victim: An Exploration Through Triangulated Qualitative Document Analysis

David L. Altheide, Barbara Gray, Roy Janisch, Lindsay Korbin, R.J. Maratea, Debra Neill, Joseph Reaves, and Felicia Van Deman          

Qualitative Inquiry (2001) 7(3): 304-322

Abstract

A seminar project used the World Wide Web to examine the multiple meanings of fear and victim in various news media to explore the substance of news as well as experiment with using an interactive Web page in a seminar format. The approach used was triangulated qualitative document analysis (TQDA), which relied on an interactive Web page format that permitted multiple observers to view others’ data, analysis, and summary comments as well as incorporate these accounts into their own work. The aim was to foster a critical reflective analysis using online information bases and interacting with each other outside of class as well as during seminar session. The provocative findings were reflexively joined to the information technology and emergent interaction process.