Shedding a New Light on Radicalization Processes

Author: Dr. Jais Adam Troian, ERC PRIME Youth Project Researcher, European Institute, İstanbul Bilgi University

A general trend of political extremization can be observed across the globe. This is indicated by the numerous electoral successes of populist parties in the EU and the US, the authoritarian/hawkish shift of governments in ‘illiberal democracies’ such as Russian Federation, Brazil, and India, or even the revival of nationalistic ideas in Western countries such as Brexit. Violent extremism in the form of terrorism is also on the rise again (START, 2018).  Indeed, an estimated 25,000 people annually die from terror attacks or other violent acts perpetrated by extremists around the world (see START data at https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/). Though most of these occur in countries rifle with political instability and long-term armed conflicts (e.g. Syria, Iraq), a worrying trend of growing extremism can be observed in the European Union.

But what motivates individuals to carry out such violent actions, very often against their own societies? So far, social science research has established that violent extremism is not linked with either structural or psychopathological factors per se but involves a combination of three groups of factors. Individuals will engage in violent extremism as a function of the number of violent extremists in their own social network, as a result of their exposure to violence-legitimizing ideologies and because of their motivation to achieve a meaningful purpose in life. This motivational aspect is particularly important to understand why individuals engage in violent extremism, and constitutes significant part of the psychological literature focusing on the determinants of radical political behaviour.

Nevertheless, from radical Islamist organizations (ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaida etc.) to extreme-left factions (Anarchists, Black-Blocks) and neo-fascists movements (EU Identity-Youth, US Alt-Right), a main predictor of engagement into violent extremism remains young age, with young individuals making up the bulk of violent radical organizations. So, to understand the current rise of extremism in the EU, one needs to pay specific attention to the factors that push European youth to seek control and significance in life through engaging into violent extremism. This is precisely what the ERC Prime Youth project focuses on. It is known that engagement into violent extremism –specifically for youth individuals – is a process that begins with a ‘sensitivity’ phase. Life events that threaten people, such as being discriminated against, having financial difficulties or being socially isolated, can trigger a process that will ultimately lead to violent extremism. In Prime Youth, we will investigate the role of socio-economic changes in the EU during the past three decades in generating threats among the youth to explore the way deleterious societal changes generate extremism as a long-term consequence. This research is thus much needed to understand how growing unemployment, economic insecurity and individualism are actually at the roots of violent extremism. Thus, we hypothesize that religious or political ‘radicalization’ is actually a consequence of these socio-economic factors, and not a direct cause of extremism. However, societal factors act in an indirect way to shape political violence. For instance, analyses of responses to the 1990 EU Barometer Youth survey showed that, compared to employed youth, unemployed youth reported less confidence in politics, talking less about politics, and more frequently supported revolutionary political ideologies. Similarly, social comparison, individualism, materialist goals of success, and acceptance of social inequality, have been found to explain why deprived East German youth expressed more xenophobia than their Western German counterparts and to be predictive of far right-wing attitudes. On the other hand, increased nationalism, intergroup tensions and xenophobia generate violent extremism among minority youth populations. Feelings of ostracism among minority youth in Western countries lead to greater resentment and Islamist radicalization while also fuelling a sense of detachment from their host nation’s culture.

In short, societal crises fuel Far-right extremism, which in return increases Islamist radicalization, which further fuels perceptions of crisis (e.g. terror attacks) thus Far-right extremism. Therefore, the Prime Youth project is about identifying and understanding these ‘co-radicalization’ cycles. To do so, we will investigate the living conditions of EU youth from marginalised backgrounds likely to lead them to either Islamism or Fascism. This dynamic understanding is important since misguided political arguments in the EU often stigmatize some populations (e.g. Muslim youth) by pointing at religion (hence Islam) as a cause of extremism. Actually these narratives are likely to generate even more violent extremism by contributing to threat perceptions among essentialized minority groups and bolster Islamophobia among the majority group. It means that a correct understanding of the processes at play behind extreme political violence are needed to address this issue adequately and avoid ‘fuelling the fire’ by displaying unfit political reactions which eventually backfire. And this is precisely what Prime Youth is about.