Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore convergences between elements of violent extremism and phenomena based on similar axioms or mechanisms in ‘non-extremist’ contexts.

Paper long abstract:

Why are we not all extremists? All the ‘building blocks’, the causes identified as driving radicalisation towards violent extremism, are easily identifiable in the broader society. Literature attributes a plethora of factors to explain extremist militancy – from individual life circumstances, exposure, and psychological characteristics, to broader socio-structural factors. However, most, if not all, of these factors affect broader society amongst whom only a very small number of individuals are usually considered to be extremist. Similarly, a number of logical axioms that drive extremist ideologies are present in political structures, discourses and common social ways of thinking across Europe (at times also echoed by social scientists that give it legitimacy).

This paper will explore convergences between elements of violent extremism and phenomena based on similar axioms or mechanisms in ‘non-extremist’ contexts. Are the differences between the logic of radical violent extremism and our status-quo social discourses, differences of kinds or just extents? When thinking of ‘Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism’(PCVE), it can be useful to sometimes think more broadly and look more widely. Perhaps the growth of radical and extremist phenomena is made easy due to the rich soil on which it grows, and the work of ‘prevention’ ought to reach even the most ‘banal’ social forms that show similarities with extremism.