Extremism

Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shared social consensus) to be far outside the mainstream attitudes of society. It can also be used in an economic context. The term may be used pejoratively by opposing groups, but is also used in academic and journalistic circles in a purely descriptive and non-condemning sense.

Extremists' views are typically contrasted with those of moderates. Political agendas perceived as extremist often include those from the far-left politics or far-right politics, as well as radicalism, reactionism, chauvinism, fundamentalism, and fanaticism. Extremist groups will differ in their preference for violent extremism vs. nonviolent extremism.

Research specific to social media activities has shown that groups from different sides of the left and right political axis or of those that consist of an incumbent party and opposition party, are further apart in terms of ideology, with ideological distance strongly correlated with an extremism score.

Definitions

Peter T. Coleman and Andrea Bartoli give observation of definitions:

Difference from radicalism

Astrid Bötticher notes several differences between radicalism and extremism, among them in goals (idealistic vs. restorative, emancipatory vs. anti-democratic), morals (universal vs. particular), approach towards diversity (acceptance vs. disdain), and use of violence (pragmatic and selective vs. legitimate and acceptable).

Laird Wilcox identifies 21 alleged traits of a "political extremist", ranging from "a tendency to character assassination" and hateful behavior like "name calling and labelling", to general character traits like "a tendency to view opponents and critics as essentially evil", "a tendency to substitute intimidation for argument" or "groupthink".

"Extremism" is not a standalone characteristic. The attitude or behavior of an "extremist" may be represented as part of a spectrum, which ranges from mild interest through "obsession" to "fanaticism" and "extremism". The alleged similarity between the "extreme left" and "extreme right", or perhaps between opposing religious zealots, may mean only that all these are "unacceptable" from the standpoint of the mainstream or majority.

Economist Ronald Wintrobe argues that many extremist movements, even though having completely different ideologies, share a common set of characteristics. As an example, he lists the following common characteristics between "Jewish fundamentalists" and "the extremists of Hamas":

Psychological

Among the explanations for extremism is one that views it as a plague. Arno Gruen said, "The lack of identity associated with extremists is the result of self-destructive self-hatred that leads to feelings of revenge toward life itself, and a compulsion to kill one's own humanness." In this context, extremism is seen as not a tactic, nor an ideology, but as a pathological illness which feeds on the destruction of life. Dr. Kathleen Taylor believes religious fundamentalism is a mental illness and is "curable." There are distinct psychological features of extremists that contribute to conflict among societal groups; Jan-Willem van Prooijen identified them as psychological distress, cognitive simplicity, overconfidence and intolerance.

Another view is that extremism is an emotional outlet for severe feelings stemming from "persistent experiences of oppression, insecurity, humiliation, resentment, loss, and rage" which are presumed to "lead individuals and groups to adopt conflict engagement strategies which "fit" or feel consistent with these experiences".

A 2019 study found that political extremism on both the left and right tended to have four common psychological features: psychological distress stimulates the adoption of an extreme ideological outlook, extreme ideologies tend to have relatively simplistic black-white perceptions of the social world, said mental simplicity causes overconfidence in judgements, and political extremists are less tolerant of different groups and opinions than moderates.

Criticism of term

After being accused of extremism, Martin Luther King Jr. criticized the mainstream usage of the term in his Letter from Birmingham Jail:

<blockquote>...though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love…Was not Amos an extremist for justice…Was not Martin Luther an extremist…So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?</blockquote>

In his 1964 acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention, Barry Goldwater said, "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Robert F. Kennedy said "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

In Russia, the laws prohibiting extremist content are used to suppress the freedom of speech through very broad and flexible interpretation. Published material classified as "extremist", and thus prosecuted, included protests against the court rulings in the Bolotnaya Square case ("calling for illegal action"), criticism of overspending by a local governor ("insult of the authorities"), publishing a poem in support of Ukraine ("inciting hatred"), an open letter against a war in Chechnya by the writer Polina Zherebcova, the Jehovah's Witnesses movement in Russia, Raphael Lemkin, and articles by the initiator of the Genocide Convention of 1948.

Other terms

Since the 1990s, in United States politics, the term Sister Souljah moment has been used to describe a politician's public repudiation of an allegedly extremist person or group, statement, or position which might otherwise be associated with his own party.

The term "subversive" was often used interchangeably, in the United States at least, with "extremist" during the Cold War period, although the two words are not synonymous.

References

Citations

Cited publications

George, John and Laird Wilcox. Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe: Political Extremism in America. Prometheus Books, 1992. ()
Himmelstein, Jerome L. All But Sleeping with the Enemy: Studying the Radical Right Up Close. ASA, San Francisco: 1988
Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Various editions, first published 1951.
Schlesinger, Arthur Jr. The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom. Various editions, first published 1949.
Wilcox, Laird. "What Is Political Extremism", retrieved from The Voluntaryist newsletter #27, 1987

External links

The M and S Collection at the Library of Congress contains materials on Extremist Movements.