TY - JOUR
T1 - Why Should We Care What Extremists Think? The Contribution of Emic Perspectives to Understanding the “right-wing extremist” Mind-Set
AU - Pilkington, Hilary
N1 - Funding Information:
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research drawn on in this article is part of the H2020 DARE project (see http://www.dare-h2020.org/ ) coordinated by Hilary Pilkington at the University of Manchester. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 725349. This article reflects only the views of the author; the European Commission and Research Executive Agency are not responsible for any information it contains. The mediated dialog events (‘Talking our way out of conflict’) referred to in the article were funded by an ESRC Impact Accelerator Account award (through the University of Manchester, 01.10.2018-31.03.2019) and the Commission for Countering Extremism (22.03-03.05.2019). The views expressed in the article reflect those of the author alone.
Funding Information:
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research drawn on in this article is part of the H2020 DARE project (see http://www.dare-h2020.org/ ) coordinated by Hilary Pilkington at the University of Manchester. The project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 725349. This article reflects only the views of the author; the European Commission and Research Executive Agency are not responsible for any information it contains. The mediated dialog events (?Talking our way out of conflict?) referred to in the article were funded by an ESRC Impact Accelerator Account award (through the University of Manchester, 01.10.2018-31.03.2019) and the Commission for Countering Extremism (22.03-03.05.2019). The views expressed in the article reflect those of the author alone.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2021/9/13
Y1 - 2021/9/13
N2 - This article considers the implications of the mainstreaming of ‘right-wing extremism’ for what, and whom, we understand as ‘extreme’. It draws on ethnographic research (2017-2020) with young people active in movements routinely referred to in public and academic discourse as ‘extreme right’ or ‘far right’. Based on interviews, informal communication and observation, the article explores how actors in the milieu understand ‘extremism’ and how far this corresponds to academic and public conceptualisations of ‘right-wing extremism’, in particular cognitive ‘closed-mindedness’. Emic perspectives are not accorded privileged authenticity. Rather, it is argued, critical engagement with them reveals the important role of ethnographic research in gaining insight into, and challenging what we know about, the ‘mind-set’ of right-wing extremists. Understanding if such a mind-set exists, and if it does, in what it consists, matters, if academic research is to inform policy and practice to counter socially harmful practices among those it targets effectively.
AB - This article considers the implications of the mainstreaming of ‘right-wing extremism’ for what, and whom, we understand as ‘extreme’. It draws on ethnographic research (2017-2020) with young people active in movements routinely referred to in public and academic discourse as ‘extreme right’ or ‘far right’. Based on interviews, informal communication and observation, the article explores how actors in the milieu understand ‘extremism’ and how far this corresponds to academic and public conceptualisations of ‘right-wing extremism’, in particular cognitive ‘closed-mindedness’. Emic perspectives are not accorded privileged authenticity. Rather, it is argued, critical engagement with them reveals the important role of ethnographic research in gaining insight into, and challenging what we know about, the ‘mind-set’ of right-wing extremists. Understanding if such a mind-set exists, and if it does, in what it consists, matters, if academic research is to inform policy and practice to counter socially harmful practices among those it targets effectively.
KW - authoritarian personality
KW - closed-mindedness
KW - ethnography
KW - right-wing extremism
KW - youth
UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416211041160
U2 - 10.1177/08912416211041160
DO - 10.1177/08912416211041160
M3 - Article
VL - 51
SP - 318
EP - 346
JO - Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
JF - Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
SN - 0891-2416
IS - 3
ER -