Linda Schlegel successfully defended her dissertation “Storytelling against Extremism” on September 30, 2024.
Extremist narratives play a major role in radicalization processes. Both jihadist and right-wing extremist narratives are integral parts of modern propaganda, especially in its digital distribution and via social media. Against this background, work concerned with the prevention of extremism is increasingly turning to counter-narratives. In her dissertation project, Linda Schlegel is examining an aspect of digital narrative campaigns against extremism that has received little attention so far: How can good storytelling strengthen the impact of narrative campaigns against extremism? The aim is to explain how narrative campaigns can be improved by using persuasive elements and good narrative quality.
Following on from her doctorate, Linda Schlegel is working together with Julian Junk as project manager of the PRIF project RadiGaMe, which investigates the role of gaming platforms and messengers in radicalization processes and in prevention work. Through her doctorate, Linda Schlegel contributes to addressing central deficits in the understanding of digital extremist activities and to designing more effective prevention approaches.
We warmly congratulate Linda on her successful defense.
