The Psychology Of Political Extremism

Recent terrorist attacks have left the UK (and Europe) genuinely at sea as to how to respond to these distressing events. There are the predictable interpretations with politicians on the right talking about counter-terrorism, harsher punishments and tightening up on the internet, whilst on the political left there is talk about blaming foreign wars. All this analysis is relevant, but insufficient. Politicians are not talking enough about why so many young people are sufficiently angry and alienated that they are prepared to be seduced by the toxic and poisonous ideology of Islamic State. The Psychology of Political Extremism examines both the politics and the psychology, as well as what motivates people to behave in ways that are so disturbing. Freud is the hook as the founding father of the talking cure. A radical and subversive theorist in his time, he claimed that mankind was influenced more by the inner workings of the mind and internal conflicts than by rational thought.

This volume examines the psychological factors, environments, and social factors contributing to identification with extremist identities and ideologies. Incorporating recent findings on interpersonal relationships, emotions, and social identity, the book aims to improve understanding of what makes individuals vulnerable to extremism. It concludes with a discussion of the intricacies of identification with extremist groups, a proposal for de-radicalization, and a call for awareness as a means to resist polarization. Chapters highlight interdisciplinary research into specific concepts and behaviors that can lead to extremism, addressing topics such as: ● Homogamy, tribalism and the desire to belong ● Shared hatred in strong group identities ● The impact of emotional contagion on personal relationships ● Dehumanization across political party lines An in-depth exploration of an increasingly divisive modern issue, The Psychology of Extremism is an essential resource for researchers and students across social psychology, sociology, political psychology, and political science.

In American Extremism, a clinical psychologist examines what makes America prone to political extremism, and finds that state and quasi-state actors such as NGOs, academia, and the media are the true originators of political violence.

This ground-breaking book introduces a new model of extremism that emphasizes motivational imbalance among individual needs, offering a unique multidisciplinary exploration of extreme behaviors relating to terrorism, dieting, sports, love, addictions, and money. In popular discourse, the term ‘extremism’ has come to mean largely ‘violent extremism’, but this is just one of many different types: extreme sports, extreme diets, political and religious extremisms, extreme self-interest, extreme attitudes, extreme devotion to a cause, addiction to substances, or behavioral addiction (to videogames, shopping, pornography, sex, and work). But do these descriptions have a deeper meaning? Do they reveal a common psychological dynamic? Or are they merely a mode of things about phenomena that have little in common? Bringing together world-leading psychologists from a variety of disciplines, the book uses a brand-new model to examine different expressions of extremism, at different levels of analysis (brain, hormones, and behavior), in order not merely to describe such behaviors but also to explain their occurrence, and the conditions under which they may be likely to emerge. Also including suggestions for ways in which extremism could be counteracted, and to what extent it appears to be harmful to individuals and society, this is essential reading for students and academics in psychology and behavioral sciences.

Recent terrorist attacks have left the UK (and Europe) genuinely at sea as to how to respond to these distressing events. There are the predictable interpretations with politicians on the right talking about counter-terrorism, harsher punishments and tightening up on the internet, whilst on the political left there is talk about blaming foreign wars. All this analysis is relevant, but insufficient. Politicians are not talking enough about why so many young people are sufficiently angry and alienated that they are prepared to be seduced by the toxic and poisonous ideology of Islamic State. The Psychology of Political Extremism examines both the politics and the psychology, as well as what motivates people to behave in ways that are so disturbing. Freud is the hook as the founding father of the talking cure. A radical and subversive theorist in his time, he claimed that mankind was influenced more by the inner workings of the mind and internal conflicts than by rational thought.

This new edition of John Horgan's critically acclaimed book is fully revised and expanded. The book presents a critical analysis of our existing knowledge and understanding of terrorist psychology. Despite the on-going search for a terrorist pathology, the most insightful and evidence-based research to date not only illustrates the lack of any identifiable psychopathology in terrorists, but demonstrates how frighteningly 'normal' and unremarkable in psychological terms are those who engage in terrorist activity. By producing a clearer map of the processes that impinge upon the individual terrorist, a different type of terrorist psychology emerges, one which has clearer implications for efforts at countering and disrupting violent extremism in today's world. In this 2nd edition, Horgan further develops his approach to the arc of terrorism by delving deeper into his IED model of Involvement, Engagement and Disengagement – the three phases of terrorism experienced by every single terrorist. Drawing on new and exciting research from the past decade, with new details from interviews with terrorists ranging from al-Qaeda to left-wing revolutionaries, biographies and autobiographies of former terrorists, and insights from historic and contemporary terrorist attacks since 2005, Horgan presents a fully revised and expanded edition of his signature text. This new edition of The Psychology of Terrorism will be essential reading for students of terrorism and political violence, and counterterrorism studies, and recommended for forensic psychology, criminology, international security and IR in general.

Political extremism is one of the most pernicious, destructive, and nihilistic forms of human expression. During the twentieth century, in excess of 100 million people had their lives taken from them as the result of extremist violence. In this wide-ranging book Manus I. Midlarsky suggests that ephemeral gains, together with mortality salience, form basic explanations for the origins of political extremism and constitute a theoretical framework that also explains later mass violence. Midlarsky applies his framework to multiple forms of political extremism, including the rise of Italian, Hungarian and Romanian fascism, Nazism, radical Islamism, and Soviet, Chinese and Cambodian communism. Other applications include a rampaging military (Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia) and extreme nationalism in Serbia, Croatia, the Ottoman Empire and Rwanda. Polish anti-Semitism after World War II and the rise of separatist violence in Sri Lanka are also examined.

Bowden's oratorical firepower is on full display in this 2009 interview. Members of the London New-Right put every question to him you ever wanted to ask, letting Bowden hold forth on such topics as race and politics, the EU, Islam, gender roles, paganism and Christianity, modern art, and his own vision of the future. This volume also includes three short reflections on Bowden the man by members of the London New-Right. Far from suggesting a misty-eyed return to a nostalgic past, the picture Bowden paints here is one of great intellectual daring, aesthetic dynamism, and the sort of bravado needed for any political movement to succeed. This is a foundational voice of the dissident right reminding it of lessons it has forgotten. The inaugural release in the Studies in Reaction series, Bowden's Why I Am Not a Liberal serves as a sweeping overview of illiberal thinking, and makes for an excellent entré into dissident right politics.