How do you prevent extremism?
A psychological understanding of the “extremist mindset” is essential to combat violence.
Over the past few years there have been increasing fears about the growth of far right, neo-Nazi and fascist organisations. Events such as those in Charlottesville in the United States 2017, in Chemnitz in Germany in 2018 and the recent terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, have led many to ask the question: what can we do to stop the spread of these extremist ideologies?
A small number of organisations are now gaining traction in this area. They are doing so by focusing in particular on the root social causes of why some people become attracted to extreme and violent right-wing organisations – and the ways you can guide them on a different path. Their insights are often counter-intuitive, but appear to closely match findings from other forms of extremism, including Islamist terrorism.