Publisher's Description
The Radical’s Journey draws from interviews with former right-wing extremists in Germany to present a compelling account of life as a political extremist. Insights are provided into four distinct phases of an extremist’s lifecycle: joining a radical organization, involvement in and engagement with a violent movement, leaving extremism behind, and coping with the repercussions of once being an extremist and deviant in society. Analyses are derived from an empirically supported framework that emphasizes the importance of psychological needs, exposure to ideological narratives, and embeddedness within a social network as critical to involvement in extreme violence. Instead of focusing on the details of life within an extreme movement, space is devoted to understanding the social psychological processes and factors that help the reader understand, for instance, why one would choose an extremist lifestyle or why one would remain committed to a violent organization. Throughout, insight is provided into which aspects of this journey are unique to the German context and which aspects appear to be universal, no matter one’s country of origin or ideological subscriptions. Space is also devoted to understanding the German right-wing space, both in terms of the evolution of extremism and the evolution of the counter-extremism industry that has developed to address this expanding threat. The issues covered within should resonate with practitioners and scholars working within counter-extremism fields.