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John Foster "Chip" Berlet
BornNovember 22, 1949
Other namesChip Berlet
Occupation(s)Senior analyst, investigative journalist, photojournalist
Known forStudy of right-wing movements and conspiracy theories

John Foster "Chip" Berlet (born November 22, 1949) is an American investigative journalist and photojournalist specializing in the study of right-wing movements in the United States, particularly the religious right, white supremacists, homophobic groups, and paramilitary organizations. He also studies the spread of conspiracy theories in the media and on the Internet, and political cults on both the right and left of the political spectrum.

He is the senior analyst at Political Research Associates (PRA), a non-profit group that tracks right-wing networks, and is known as one of the first researchers to have drawn attention to the efforts by white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups to recruit farmers in the Midwestern United States in the 1970s and 1980s. He is the co-author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort and editor of Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash.

Berlet, a paralegal, was a vice-president of the National Lawyers Guild, a self-identified progressive bar association. He has served on the advisory board of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University, and currently sits on the advisory board of the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation. In 1982, he was a Mencken Awards finalist in the best news story category for "War on Drugs: The Strange Story of Lyndon LaRouche," which was published in High Times. He currently serves on the advisory board of the Campaign to Defend the Constitution.

Biography

Berlet attended the University of Denver for three years, where he majored in sociology with a journalism minor. He dropped out of the university in 1971 to work as an alternative journalist. Berlet did not complete his degree. In the mid-1970s, he went on to co-edit a series of books on student activism for the National Student Association and National Student Educational Fund. He also became an active shop steward with the National Lawyers' Guild.

During the late 1970s, he became the Washington, D.C., bureau chief of High Times magazine, and in 1979, he helped to organize citizens' hearings on FBI surveillance practices. From then until 1982, he worked as a paralegal investigator at the Better Government Association in Chicago, conducting research for an American Civil Liberties Union case, involving police surveillance by the Chicago police (which became known as the "Chicago Red Squad" case). He also worked on cases filed against the FBI or police on behalf of the Spanish Action Committee of Chicago, the National Lawyers' Guild, the American Indian Movement, Socialist Workers Party, the Christic Institute, and the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker group).

In 1982, Berlet joined Political Research Associates, and in 1985, he founded the Public Eye BBS, the first computer bulletin board aimed at challenging the spread of white-supremacist and neo-Nazi material through electronic media, and the first to provide an online application kit for requesting information under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Berlet is also a photojournalist. His photographs, particularly of Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi rallies, have been carried on the Associated Press wire, have appeared on book and magazine covers, album covers and posters, and have been published in The Denver Post, The Washington Star, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Berlet was originally on the board of advisers of Public Information Research, founded by Daniel Brandt. Between 1990 and 1992, three members of Brandt's PIR advisory board, including Berlet, resigned over issues concerning another board member, L. Fletcher Prouty and Prouty's book The Secret Team.

In 1991, Berlet wrote a report entitled "Right Woos Left," which was critical of a number of critics of U.S. intelligence policy including Prouty, Mark Lane, Dick Gregory, Craig B. Hulet, and Victor Marchetti for being willing to work with groups on the right such as the John Birch Society or Liberty Lobby.

Berlet criticized Ralph Nader and his associates for a close working relationship with Republican textile magnate Roger Milliken, erstwhile major backer of the 1996 presidential campaign of Pat Buchanan, and anti-unionization stalwart. Although the assertion is sometimes attributed to Berlet, he denies ever suggesting that Milliken funded Nader's work, saying he has no evidence of such funding.

In 1996, he acted as an adviser on the Public Broadcasting Service documentary mini-series With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America, which was later published as a book by William Martin.

Political views

Berlet argues that the U.S. is currently undergoing a right-wing backlash that is the most sustained of its kind in U.S. history. He argues that although 95% of the U.S.'s hate crimes are committed by people not affiliated with any group, they have nevertheless internalized a narrative developed and promoted by the right wing that demonizes certain groups, including blacks and gays. He argues that the left must develop coalitions to find a way to counter-balance these narratives, instead of becoming isolated as another side of the "lunatic fringe".

In ZOG Ate My Brains, he warns of a "troubling resurgence on the political Left" of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that undermines the effort of progressives to cause social change.

Berlet has provided "research assistance" to a campaign run by the mother of Jeremiah Duggan to reopen the investigation into his death. The British student died in disputed circumstances near Wiesbaden, Germany. Berlet's statement suggests that the LaRouche movement bears responsibility.

Criticism

Reviewing Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, Robert H. Churchill of the University of Hartford criticized Berlet and other authors writing about the right wing as lacking breadth and depth in their analyses, failing to make contact with significant figures in the movement and conduct significant research on the Internet, and for providing analyses of far right movements that proscribe as "racist" a broad range of conservative political ideologies that are "driven more by the association of the author with various civil rights organizations and leftist political activists outlined in the acknowledgments than by the primary evidence presented in the footnotes."

In 2003 the Southern Poverty Law Center published "Into the Mainstream," in which Berlet named conservative activist David Horowitz's Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC) as one of an "array of right-wing foundations and think tanks support[ing] efforts to make bigoted and discredited ideas respectable." Berlet accused Horowitz of blaming slavery on "'black Africans ... abetted by dark-skinned Arabs'" and of "attack[ing] minority 'demands for special treatment' as 'only necessary because some blacks can't seem to locate the ladder of opportunity within reach of others,' rejecting the idea that they could be the victims of lingering racism." Horowitz responded that his reminder that the slaves transported to America were bought from African and Arab slavers was a response to demands that only whites pay blacks reparations, not to hold Africans and Arabs solely responsible for slavery, that the statement that he had denied lingering racism was "a calculated and carefully constructed lie", and that Berlet's work was "tendentious...filled with transparent misrepresentations and smears...".Since then, Horowitz's Front Page Magazine has carried a response from Berlet accusing Horowitz of "dismiss[ing] the idea that there are serious unresolved issues concerning racism and white supremacy in the United States", a further rejoinder from Horowitz, and an article by Chris Arabia claiming that "Chip Berlet has a demonstrated record of intolerance, inaccuracy, and distortion" and accusing Berlet of attempting to smear non-leftists by associating them with extreme right-wing groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Berlet was a founding member of the "Chicago Area Friends of Albania" in 1983, though he says he was one of the few dues-paying members who was not a Stalinist. His association with the group continued until he left Chicago and is the source of FrontPageMagazine.com's allegation that he was a supporter of the Enver Hoxha regime.

Bibliography

Books

Selected papers, reports, and articles

  • (1980) "Lyndon LaRouche and the U.S. Labor Party: Cult Fanaticism and the Politics of Paranoia", Chicago Reader, March 7, 1980.
  • (1981) "Ever Hear of Lyndon LaRouche? He May be Keeping Tabs on You", Des Moines Register, September 23, 1981.
  • (1982) "Private Spies: A New Threat To Constitutional Rights", The Public Eye, Vol. III, Issues 3 & 4, 1982.
  • (1982) with Russ Bellant and Dennis King, "LaRouche Cult Continues to Grow: Researchers Call for Probe of Potentially Illegal Acts", The Public Eye, Vol. III, Issues 3 & 4
  • (1984) with Russ Bellant "LaRouche Loses Libel Suit", The Guardian, NY, November 14, 1984
  • (1987) Review of Inventing Reality: The Politics of Mass Media by Michael Parenti, in The Library Quarterly, Vol. 57 No. 2, April
  • (1990) Review of The False Prophet: Rabbi Meir Kahane FBI Informant to Knesset Member, Z Magazine
  • (1993) "The A.D.L. Under Fire: It's Shift to Right Has Led to Scandal", by Dennis King and Chip Berlet, The New York Times, May 28, 1993, p. A29 (Op-Ed).
  • (1993) "Big Stories, Spooky Sources", Columbia Journalism Review, May-June 1993
  • (1994)"Right Woos Left", Political Research Associates website, February 22, 1994
  • (1995) "The Violence of Right-Wing Populism", Peace Review, Vol. 7, Nos. 3 & 4, pp. 283288. Oxford: Journals Oxford Ltd.
  • (1995) "Uniting to Defend the Four Freedoms", in Chip Berlet, ed., Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash, Boston, South End Press.
  • (1995) with Margaret Quigley, "Theocracy & White Supremacy", in Chip Berlet, ed., Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash, Boston, South End Press.
  • (1996) "Three Models for Analyzing Conspiracist Mass Movements of the Right", in Eric Ward, ed., Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements, Seattle: Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, Peanut Butter Publishing.
  • (1997) "Fascism's Franchises: Stating the Differences from Movement to Totalitarian Government", presented to the American Sociological Association, Toronto
  • (1997) "An Introduction to Propaganda Analysis", in Uncovering the Right on Campus: A Guide to Resisting Conservative Attacks on Equality and Social Justice, Cambridge, MA: Center for Campus Organizing.
  • (1998) "Following the Threads: A Work in Progress", in Amy Elizabeth Ansell, ed., Unraveling the Right: The New Conservatism in American Thought and Politics, New York: Westview
  • (1998) "Mad as Hell: Right-wing Populism, Fascism, and Apocalyptic Millennialism", presented at the 14th World Congress of Sociology, International Sociological Association, Montreal
  • (1998) "The Ideological Weaponry of the American Right: 'Dangerous Classes' and 'Welfare Queens'", presented at the international symposium, The "American Model:" an Hegemonic Perspective for the End of the Millennium?, Group Regards Critiques, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • (1998) "Who's Mediating the Storm? Right-wing Alternative Information Networks", in Linda Kintz & Julia Lesage, eds., Culture, Media, and the Religious Right, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
  • (1998) "Y2K and Millennial Pinball: How Y2K Shapes Survivalism in the U.S. Christian Right, Patriot and Armed Militia Movements, and Far Right", presented at the annual symposium, Center for Millennial Studies, Boston University
  • (1998) with Matthew N. Lyons, "One Key to Litigating Against Government Prosecution of Dissidents: Understanding the Underlying Assumptions, " Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Law Report, in two parts, Vol. 5, No. 13, Vol. 5, No. 14, West Group.
  • (1999) "Abstaining from Bad Sects: Understanding Sects, Cadres, and Mass Movement Organizations"
  • (2000) with Matthew N. Lyons, Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort, New York: Guiford Press.
  • (2001) "Hate Groups, Racial Tension and Ethnoviolence in an Integrating Chicago Neighborhood 1976-1988", in Betty A. Dobratz, Lisa K. Walder, and Timothy Buzzell, eds., Research in Political Sociology, Volume 9: The Politics of Social Inequality, pp. 117-163.
  • (2002) "Anti-Masonic Conspiracy Theories: A Narrative Form of Demonization and Scapegoating", Heredom, Vol. 10, pp. 243-275.
  • (2002) "Encountering and Countering Political Repression", in The Global Activists Manual: Local Ways to Change the World, edited by Mike Prokosch, Laura Raymond, and Michael Prokosch, New York: Thunder Mouth Press/Nation Books
  • (2004) "Mapping the Political Right: Gender and Race Oppression in Right-Wing Movements", in Abby Ferber, ed, Home-Grown Hate: Gender and Organized Racism, New York: Routledge.
  • (2005) "The Sucker Punch of Right/Left Coalitions, Political Research Associates, website, undated, retrieved January 7, 2005
  • (2005) Right-Wing Populism, Political Research Associates website, undated, retrieved January 7, 2005

Notes

  1. "About PRA".
  2. Jason Berry (1993-08-22). "Bridging chasms of race and hate". St. Petersburg Times (Florida). Times Publishing Company. p. 6D. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. "Bibliography: Chicago Police Department's Red Squad's Involvement In Social Protest" (PDF).
  4. Berlet, Chip. "History of the Public Eye Electronic Forums".
  5. Grant Kester (Feb-March, 1995). "Net profits: Chip Berlet tracks computer networks of the religious right - interview with Political Research Associates analyst - Special Issue: Fundamentalist Media - Interview". Afterimage. Visual Studies Workshop. Retrieved 2007-04-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. Daniel Brandt, "An Incorrect Political Memoir," Lobster, No. 24 (December 1992)
  7. Chip Berlet, "Right Woos Left: Populist Party, LaRouchite, and Other Neo-fascist Overtures To Progressives, And Why They Must Be Rejected," Cambridge, MA: Political Research Associates, 1991.
  8. Right-Wing Populism in America by Chip Berlet, pp. 338-344
  9. Hawkins, Howie (2000). "A Green Perspective on Ralph Nader And Independent Political Action (from New Politics, vol. 8, no. 1 (new series), whole no. 29, Summer 2000)".
  10. With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America at IMDb
  11. Martin, William (1996). With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Religious Right in America. Broadway. ISBN 0-553-06749-4.
  12. "Race, Class, and Gender: Justice in the Intersections". 1999.
  13. Berlet, Chip. "Zog ate my brains", New Internationalist, October 2004.
  14. "PublicEye.org".
  15. Churchill, Robert H. "Beyond the Narrative of 1995 - Recent Examinations of the American Far Right." Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Winter 2001), pp.125–136.
  16. Berlet, Chip (2003). "Into the Mainstream". Intelligence Report. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2006-04-23.
  17. Horowitz, David (2003). "An Open Letter To Morris Dees". FrontPageMagazine.com. FrontPageMagazine.com. Retrieved 2006-04-23.
  18. "Response to David Horowitz's Complaint". 2003-09-14.
  19. "Morris Dees' Hate Campaign". 2003-09-16.
  20. Arabia, Chris (2003). "Chip Berlet: Leftist Lie Factory". FrontPageMagazine.com. FrontPageMagazine.com. Retrieved 2006-04-23.
  21. Arabia, Chris (2003). "Chip Berlet: Leftist Lie Factory". FrontPageMagazine.com. FrontPageMagazine.com. Retrieved 2007-01-15. - "Chip Berlet broke onto the scene as a defender of Communist repression in Albania. Berlet was a founding member of the "Chicago Area Friends of Albania," which formed in 1983 to aid the Stalinist leader of Albania, Enver Hoxha."
  22. Berlet, Chip (1999). "Abstaining from Bad Sects: Understanding Sects, Cadres, and Mass Movement Organizations". Resist, Inc. Resist, Inc. Retrieved 2007-04-11.- "I had quipped that if this group somehow managed to come up with democratic guidelines that didn't require supporting the government of Albania or its political system, that even I would join. They did, so I paid my dues and have been red-baited ever since."

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