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SUMMARY:Radicalisation and Violent Extremism: Trends\, Drivers\, Solutions
  - Julia Ebner (Oxford)
DTSTART:20240508T140000Z
DTEND:20240508T150000Z
UID:TALK212536@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Yara Kyrychenko
DESCRIPTION:Incel\, conspiracy theorist\, and neo-Nazi movements once belo
 nged on the fringes of the political spectrum. Today\, their ideas are bec
 oming more widespread\, accelerated by global conflict\, economic crisis\,
  and rapid technological change. Extremists across the world have skillful
 ly expanded their reach by using cutting-edge technologies. They have also
  attracted the youngest generations by gamifying their communication and i
 mpacted politics by entering surprising coalitions. In recent years\, onli
 ne campaigns to intimidate politicians\, journalists\, and activists\, as 
 well as online efforts to radicalise wider groups of people towards violen
 ce\, have become increasingly common. Security experts have warned that bo
 th mainstream and fringe cyberspaces (so-called alt-tech platforms) have t
 urned into hotbeds for viral hate and the inspiration of violence. This ha
 s often left security services overwhelmed with the sheer amount of potent
 ial threats to national security.\n\nYet\, not everyone who makes explicit
  threats of violence will translate their words into action. Likewise\, no
 t everyone who will commit an act of extreme violence threatens to do so b
 eforehand. Some will even intentionally scratch the boundaries of legality
  by using the rhetorical weapon of satire\, leading intelligence officers 
 into a tricky security-versus-freedom dilemma. Judgement on whether a user
  who engages in “shitposting” constitutes a risk to violence can be di
 fficult\; yet the stakes are high. The intersection of satire and hate has
  escalated in a new phenomenon of political violence: gamified terrorism. 
 As we have been able to observe the growing relationship between trolling 
 and terrorism\, traditional counter-terrorism mechanisms have become incre
 asingly unhelpful in assessing and dealing with this emerging threat.\n\nB
 ased on her research\, Dr Julia Ebner will give insights into patterns of 
 radicalisation across different ideologies as well as emerging global tren
 ds in extremist mobilisation. Throughout the seminar\, she will address qu
 estions such as: Why have outlandish extremist ideas taken hold in liberal
  democracies and how do they spread online? What are the pull and push fac
 tors that drive radicalisation\, and when do they pose a risk for national
  security? Can would-be perpetrators of extreme violence be reliably ident
 ified by the linguistic traces they unintentionally leave behind in their 
 online communications? In closing\, she will propose a set of solutions to
  tackle the spread of violent extremism and to prevent acts of terrorism.\
 n\nThis talk is in person only.\n\n
LOCATION:Ground Floor Lecture Theatre\, Department of Psychology\, Downing
  Site\, Cambridge
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