BELIEVING IN THE END: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE PREPPER COMMUNITY
Open Access
- Author:
- Miller, Andrew Christopher
- Graduate Program:
- American Studies
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- October 01, 2018
- Committee Members:
- Anthony B. Buccitelli, Ph.D., Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Anthony B. Buccitelli, Ph.D., Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Simon J. Bronner, Ph.D., Committee Member
Charles D. Kupfer, Ph.D., Committee Member
Robin Redmon Wright, Ph.D., Outside Member - Keywords:
- Apocalypse
ethnography - Abstract:
- This ethnographic study examines “preppers,” a vernacular community of individuals who believe that the world is on an unsustainable trajectory and only through individual production can humanity be saved. The research took place offline through attending various prepper shows on the East Coast and online through observing prepper interactions on websites and forums. The study was launched with a driving question of why preppers, unlike other prophetic apocalyptic groups, could survive their continuous failed prophesies around the end of the world. The research reveals that preppers survive because of the community’s ability to absorb the impact of a failed prophecy through its vernacular interpretive practices. Other more hierarchical apocalyptic communities have little room for shifting blame when the world does not end. Preppers believe in a secular apocalypse, one that is void of control by God, but the majority of preppers are Christians. The study explores the challenges created by the dissonance between Christian prepper’s belief in Jesus and a call to care for others, and the secular need to protect himself and his family. To overcome this dissonance, Christian preppers have removed Jesus, Noah, and Joseph from the Bible and transformed them into preppers. This study demonstrates how preppers use a broad range of media, including the Bible, movies, and YouTube clips, to construct their vision of the apocalypse. Without institutional leadership, preppers fill this void with their individual voices and construct the vernacular apocalypse through various forms of media. Preppers believe that the apocalypse will purge society and create a new localized egalitarian world. In this study, I argue that the post-apocalyptic world of preppers is void of multiculturalism and neglects the progress and contributions of women and non-whites to society.