Friction
How Radicalization Happens to Them and Us
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- 32,99 €
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- 32,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
This accessible book identifies twelve mechanisms of political radicalization that can move individuals, groups, and the masses to increased sympathy and support for political violence. Terrorism is an extreme form of radicalization, and the book describes pathways to terrorism to demonstrate the twelve mechanisms at work.
Written by two psychologists who are acknowledged radicalization experts and consultants to the Department of Homeland Security, Friction draws heavily on case histories. The case material is wide-ranging - drawn from Russia in the late 1800s, the US in the 1970s, and the radical Islam encouraged by the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Taken together, the twelve mechanisms show how unexceptional people are moved to exceptional violence in the conflict between states and non-state challengers. Captivating, and with psychological overtones, this timely book covers one of the most pressing issues of our time.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McCauley (Why Not Kill Them All?), co-director of the Solomon Asch Center for the Study or Ethnopolitical Conflict, and Moskalenko, a research fellow at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, seek a more complex discussion of terrorism, and methodically examine radicalization by eschewing simplifying rhetoric (words like "evil" and "crazy") in favor of a framework of 12 "nested mechanisms." For example, the radicalization of Osama bin Laden, the Weather Underground, and 19th century Russian anarchists who assassinated Tsar Alexander II "were eerily similar." The authors argue against finding cause in shared ideology or individual psychopathology, aiming instead to detail how "normal people can be moved toward criminal and violent behavior by normal psychology." The authors point out that the road to terrorism is a "slippery slope" involving a series of transformations: identifying with a cause; becoming a loyal member of an opposition group; conforming to collective pressure to act in ways that before would have been unlikely. Other factors, like love and the allure of risk and status contribute as well. Finally, the authors argue against harsh government counter-terrorist measures, believing that they can contribute to radicalization; a better understanding of the mechanisms under which terrorism thrives can lead to more efficacious counter-terrorism policies. A valuable contribution to the ongoing dialogue.
