Radicalization
The Research Group Radicalization investigates the causes and dynamics of radicalization processes (topic 1) as well as their effects on societies (topic 2). In the first topic, radicalization processes within radicalized milieus as well as dynamics of cumulative radicalization and co-radicalization are analyzed. In the second topic, the countermeasures of the state and of civil society actors and the consequences that result for society are taken into consideration.
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The Research Group thus builds on the existing research traditions of PRIF in the areas of terrorism and political violence, transnational violence, prevention and political education and comparative conflict research. Furthermore, the research group bundles them across disciplines and across program areas in relation to research on various (transnational) political phenomena and religious radicalization.
Although these analyses of the complex causes and dynamics of radicalization as well as their perception in politics and society are located in basic research, the research group also focuses on the dialogical transfer of knowledge through a wide network of practice partners.
Projects
Dissertations
Dealing with the threat of terrorism has shaped national security agendas since 9/11. German politics, too, reacted to what was perceived as a “new dimension” of threat. The German approach, however, relies on legal measures and the rule of law, defining terrorism as a form of crime which has to be dealt with in legal terms (in contrast to the US “war on terror”-approach). Consequently, numerous laws concerning counterterrorsim have been passed on the federal and state level since 2001. They cover a variety of legal areas, reflect a broad concept of security and have repeatedly transformed the framework of national security. Some mechanisms of the rule of law have been challenged or overwhelmed by these transformations: Risk-management and preventive measures intended to enable security agencies to act as far ahead of the situation as possible also invade areas protected by the Grundrecht (fundamental rights) and dilute basic principles such as the presumption of innocence.
In her dissertation project, Isabelle Stephanblome examines the legislative reactions to terrorism in Germany within the field of tension between politics, law and insecurity. To this end, different strategies for controlling insecurity are typologised and arguments for their legitimacy are analysed. The empirical basis for this is the legislation of the federal government and selected Bundesländer (states). The legal texts as well as the documents of their drafting processes will be examined with an interpretative approach in a qualitative case study. The project is located in political science legal research and aims to contribute to opening up law for security studies as a state instrument for processing uncertainty.
Dealing with postmigrant diversity is a current challenge for state institutions in Germany. Demographic change as well as debates on racism lead to pressure to deal with questions of belonging, representation and participation of people with migration background. In Germany, an effort by police to address and employ people with migration background in recruitment campaigns can be observed. However, this diversification does not necessarily lead to institutional change due to the established cop culture and organizational culture.
Even if there is no paradigm shift yet, a change in the way the German police is dealing with postmigrant diversity can be observed. This dissertation project uses ethnomethodological methods and qualitative interviews to investigate understandings of diversity within the German police by analyzing practices of creating diversity.
Radical positions are currently on the rise again in many European countries as well as in Germany, and anti-democratic and anti-emancipatory ideas are spreading. Hate crime is on the rise, especially online, and comments and statements in the virtual world are becoming more uninhibited. This development has become particularly evident for several years in the phenomena of Salafist jihadism and right-wing extremism.
By winning over more people to right-wing or Salafist ideology and increasing the willingness to use violence within the scenes, the mobilization strategies and techniques of extremist actors seem to be paying off. By means of a qualitative content analysis of Facebook content of Salafist and right-wing extremist actors, Manjana Sold investigates in her dissertation project which mobilization techniques are used by differently radical individuals and which differences can be observed within the phenomenon areas.
This PhD project investigates the rise of antifeminist conspiratorial mobilization in Germany, fueled by conservative, Catholic, and right-wing actors who oppose gender equality as well as queer and trans rights, because they view them as causing societal collapse due to the erosion of “natural” gender roles. Support of anti-feminism is not easily understood from a psychological needs perspective, as it entails an opposition to politics which promise emancipation for many. The particular form of conspiracist opposition to these politics furthermore connects them to antisemitic notions and supports a perceived urgency to defend oneself against the supposedly feminist elites. This PhD project aims to explore how individuals of different gender identities nevertheless experience political empowerment within these movements and how they view those they perceive as threatening. Employing a mixed-method approach, including interviews and online narrative analysis, the project aims to explore the socio-psychological mechanisms by which individuals gain political agency.
So-called Reichsbürger (‘citizens of the Reich [German empire]’) are not a new phenomenon in Germany. However, recent events, such as the investigation into ‘Patriotische Union’ (‘Patriotic Union’) since December 2022, the Covid-19 protest movements, and several serious acts of violence have been highlighting their increasing societal relevance. And yet, the currently existing body of knowledge is highly fragmented which hinders an in-depth analysis of this particular ideological spectrum and its followers. Interestingly, preliminary analyses suggest potentially substantial differences between the Reichsbürger following and the followers of other, better-studied extremist phenomena. This relates to, for example, demographic factors, social dynamics, and forms of organisation. As a result, existing conceptualisations of radicalisation cannot easily be transferred to Reichsbürger, which necessitates new and dedicated research into the topic.
In his dissertation, Maximilian Ruf investigates individual pathways and causalities of radicalisation of Reichsbürger in Germany based on biographical-narrative interviews. The overarching aim of the project is to generate and systematise new knowledge on Reichsbürger radicalisation and to delineate it from other radicalisation phenomena in order to identify new starting points for further research and practical development.
Lotta Rahlf’s doctoral project systematically compares how evaluations of efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE) are structurally organised across Europe. By mapping various ‘P/CVE evaluation systems’ and examining factors that may explain their differences, her dissertation draws attention to the variety of ways countries organise the generation of evaluative knowledge to respond to increasing demands for evidence-based P/CVE measures. Filling crucial theoretical and empirical gaps in P/CVE research, Rahlf particularly examines the levers that make P/CVE evaluation systems more centralised in some countries and more decentralised in others. This means that her dissertation explores why P/CVE evaluations are strongly controlled by the government in some contexts while such activities are more distributed among several entities, including civil society, in others. After a comparative mapping of evaluation management in the P/CVE field in Europe, she will use qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to analyse which factors have an influence on certain designs of such evaluation systems. Based on the results, Rahlf will then select three countries to analyse their respective evaluation systems in depth. This dissertation, which is part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD network VORTEX, also has a high practical relevance as it enables P/CVE practitioners and policy makers to learn from other European contexts.
During the last decade terrorist attacks by so-called lone wolf terrorist have occurred. The attacks by Anders Breivik in Norway and Arid Uka in Germany are just two examples of this growing phenomenon. Those perpetrators act alone and allegedly radicalize alone. Yet, radicalization research highlights the importance of social ties in radicalization and mobilization to terrorism. Therefore, one has to pose the question, how lone wolves radicalize, if social ties are highly relevant in radicalization, yet the main feature of lone wolves is supposedly their loneliness. To date little research has been conducted to address this puzzle systematically on a theoretical or empirical basis.
In her dissertation project, Annika von Berg addresses the question how social ties affect radicalization processes of lone actors. To answer this question, an identity-theory-based model will be used to examine these radicalization processes in single-case-studies via process-tracing. The case studies will investigate incidents in the field of right-wing extremism and Islamism extremism.
Cognitive radicalization is characterized by an individual’s acceptance of a certain extremist ideology. It is widely believed that contemporary radicalization processes of both jihadists and right-wing extremists are partially shaped by the narratives and stories extremists postulate in their propaganda. In many cases, the consumption of these narratives takes place in the digital sphere.
Considering that narratives are perceived as crucial for radicalization processes, it is unsurprising that narratives also feature prominently in efforts to prevent and counter (violent) extremism (P/CVE). Narrative campaigns against extremism, often labeled counter-narratives and alternative narratives, have become a prominent yet heavily criticized tool to mitigate the impact of extremist narratives online.
In her dissertation, Linda Schlegel examines an aspect that has been conspicuously absent from the current literature on P/CVE narrative campaigns: How can good storytelling support the persuasive effects of narrative campaigns against extremism? To this end, she transfers insights on narrative persuasion in other contexts such as entertainment-education efforts, to the P/CVE field. The aim is to demonstrate the importance of high-quality storytelling in counter-extremism efforts and show that narratives against extremism can be improved significantly by building upon existing insights on narrative persuasion generally.
- How can research on topics surrounding radicalization, extremism, and terrorism be safe and socially sustainable?
| 2024
Ahmed, Reem; Klöckner, Mona; Sold, Manjana (2024): How can research on topics surrounding radicalization, extremism, and terrorism be safe and socially sustainable?, PRIF BLOG.
Publication - Gaming the System: The Use of Gaming-Adjacent Communication, Game and Mod Platforms by Extremist Actors
| 2024
Winkler, Constantin; Wiegold, Lars (2024): Gaming the System: The Use of Gaming-Adjacent Communication, Game and Mod Platforms by Extremist Actors, Global Network on Extremism & Technology.
Publication - Evaluating extremism prevention efforts: Insights from 14 countries
| 2023
Rahlf, Lotta; Ebbecke, Sophia; Bressan, Sarah; Herz, Angela (2023): Evaluating extremism prevention efforts: Insights from 14 countries. Interview with the PrEval working package on International Monitoring, PrEval.
Publication
Completed Projects
Extremist political views have been experiencing a boom. From July 2017 to Febuary 202, the project used an interdisciplinary and systematic comparative approach to investigate the current state of radicalization research and to propose recommendations for combating radicalization while also strengthening democratic values.
„Gesellschaft Extrem. Radikalisierung und Deradikalisierung in Deutschland“