About this site
From The Depths is an independent blog launched by Marc-André Argentino. If you subscribe today, you'll get full access to the website as well as email newsletters about new content when it's available. Your subscription makes this site possible, and allows From The Depths to continue to exist. Thank you!
Dr. Argentino received his PhD from the Individualized Program at Concordia University, using a mixed methods approach from Theological Studies, the Centre for Engineering in Society and the Institute of Information System Engineering. His PhD research was a survey of the QAnon movement, which examined its evolution from a fringe conspiracy theory to a global phenomenon and how it creates novel threats to national security and democratic institutions around the globe.
Dr. Argentino's areas of interest are hybridized threats, use of technology by violent extremist and terrorists, recruitment tactics and techniques, malevolent creativity and threats to democratic institutions. His current research focus is on dangerous conspiracy theories, accelerationism, esotericism, gaming and radicalization, adversarial AI, and the nexus of violent extremism and foreign interference.
Marc-André is an independent researcher and subject matter expert on terrorism, violent extremism and countering radicalization to violence. He has a decade of experience researching and working in countering and mitigating threats to national security.
Publications
You can find my academic publications HERE
QAnon From Conspiracy Theory to New Religious Movement
This book explores the QAnon movement by examining its history, fluctuations, and evolution, stemming from the likelihood of multiple users behind the “Q” account, as well as from the changes in the sociopolitical landscape since the creation of the movement. It frames QAnon as a lived religion and demonstrates that it has gone through three stages of existence: proto-QAnon, canonical-QAnon, and apocryphal-QAnon.
Author Marc-André Argentino argues that QAnon evolved into something more than a conspiracy theory and demonstrates through a comparative analysis that QAnon is more akin to a new religious movement, in particular a hyper-real religion. He explores the role of gender and women in the QAnon movement, followed by an examination of how the QAnon conspiracy theories have legitimized and coordinated targeted gender-based violence. The book provides evidence of the nexus of QAnon and ideologically-motivated violent extremism and criminality. Finally, it examines the evolution of QAnon after the January 6th insurrection, the loss of the 2020 election by Donald Trump, and the disappearance of “Q.” This volume will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, new religious movements, American politics, and extremism.
Contemporary Far-Right Culture The Art, Music, and Everyday Practices of Violent Extremism
Coming September 30, 2025 Contemporary Far-Right Culture offers a comprehensive overview of the varied manifestations of today’s far-right culture. It examines how far-right extremists operate in the spaces they inhabit, exploring the key elements, characteristics, and historical background of far-right extremism. The volume also considers who produces and who consumes this culture, featuring contributions from emerging scholars in the field.
Chapters investigate the cultural output of far-right influencers in anime, podcasts, “fashwave” and white power music, gaming, memetic and visual culture, social media, publishing, chan culture, philosophy, and martial arts. The book further examines pivotal issues such as female far-right influencers, paranoia, and accelerationism. It is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and activists interested in the contemporary far right and its subcultures.
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By signing up, you'll get access to the full archive of everything that's been published before and everything that's still to come. I will not put content behind a paywall–however, there is an email gate– as this blog is my continued attempt at timely public scholarship on rapidly emerging and evolving threats.