#199 Clark McCauley: The Psychology of Political Radicalization
Dr. Clark McCauley is a Research Professor of Psychology and co-director of the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College. His research interests include the psychology of group identification, group dynamics and intergroup conflict, and the psychological foundations of ethnic conflict and genocide. He is founding editor of the journal Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict: Pathways toward Terrorism and Genocide. He’s also the author of several books, including Why Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder (2006), Friction: How Conflict Radicalizes Them and Us (2011), and The Marvel of Martyrdom: The Power of Self-Sacrifice in a Selfish World (2018).
In this episode, we focus on political radicalization mechanisms. We talk about the three levels of political radicalization (individual, group, mass), and some of the main mechanisms that go associated with them, with particular focus on social disconnection, grievance (individual and group), and slippery slope processes. We also discuss how people react to threats and what they perceive to be social and political instability. We also cover essentialist thinking and dehumanization, and the hard-to-understand cases of self-sacrifice and lone-wolf terrorism. Toward the end, we also have time to discuss the mismatch between ideology and action, and some solutions to counter (and mostly to prevent) political radicalization.
Time Links:
Three levels of political radicalization: individual, group, mass
Some of the main mechanisms that operate at the individual level
Social disconnection
Slippery slope processes
Responses to social and political instability (the economic and the migrant crises)
Essentialist thinking, dehumanization and disgust
These are all normal mental mechanisms
Is it young men that participate in violent acts the most?
The complicated cases of lone-wolf terrorism and self-sacrifice
Unfortunately, this is difficult research due to low numbers of subjects
The mismatch between ideology and action
Some of the best ways to counter and prevent political radicalization
Follow Dr. McCauley’s work!
Follow Dr. McCauley’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2PSewte
Researchgate profile: https://bit.ly/2VtHrtT
Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PVTklX
START: https://bit.ly/2Cy0eJD
Relevant books/articles:
Why Not Kill Them All?: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder: https://amzn.to/2VPVHMJ
Friction: How Conflict Radicalizes Them and Us: https://amzn.to/2Va1Q1O
The Marvel of Martyrdom: The Power of Self-Sacrifice in a Selfish World: https://amzn.to/302z6Ml
Explaining Homegrown Western Jihadists: The Importance of Western Foreign Policy: https://bit.ly/2VfhXvi