Page 39 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 39
d. gereluk and c.-a. titus ■ how schools can reduce youth radicalization
be a view to position the past of what once was – a nostalgic depiction
of what the group once had. Arguably, the rise of the far Right in the
United States calls forth a call back to a “Golden Age’, where the superi-
ority of the white Anglo-Saxon settler, and colonizer, had positional au-
thority and racial supremacy over others (Johnson & Frombgen, 2009).
The Far Right Christian movements harken back to this racial supremacy
and Christian assimilation is commonly used to spur increasing polariza-
tion and radical extremism for the shifting political and religious diversi-
ty across America. The desperation to return to such a past may help vali-
date the nature of individuals to take more radicalized stances.
Conversely, radicalized groups may draw upon the injustices of the
past to justify the means for more extremist positions. Calling upon in-
appropriate use of military or state force against a particular group may
become a catalyst for the injustices of the past. Bloody Sunday, a peace-
ful protest on January 22, 1905 at the Tsar’s winter palace regarding the
plight of the common Russian people, is often attributed to the catalyst
and eventual fall of the Romanov Dynasty and the subsequent Bolshevik
Revolution. The massacre of approximately 500 individuals who peace-
fully demanded reforms from the increasing corrupt nature of the dynas-
ty was met with the Imperial forces drawing fire on the demonstrators.
In this case, the inappropriate act of violence became a catalyst for strikes
and riots across the country, and for growing sympathy and support for
the socialist revolutionary Bolsheviks. In this way, such an event adds le-
gitimacy and urgency to the collective memory and agency of a radical-
ized group that feels historically persecuted. Without the mechanism to
redress such injustices in the current day, in the recognition and formal
apologies of such atrocities, with substantive attempts to create any form
of reconciliation and understanding between groups, then there is more
inclination for radicalized groups to create momentum that something
drastic ought to occur if the balance of power is to be shifted.
Social media has shifted the lens for recruiting and attracting rad-
icalized youth towards extremist views. Vertigans (2011) starts from the
premise that social media in and of itself does not create a radicalized per-
son; rather, individuals who already hold dispositions toward more radi-
calized ideas may search out events, behaviors, to help validate their par-
ticular dispositions. However, the way in which the media is used to
describe a particular terrorist event has unintentionally helped to radical-
ized individuals and groups. The process of describing the event, how it
was done, and the fear and anxiety amongst the citizenry helps to further
legitimize the nature of those events for groups who wish to commit vio-
lent acts. In this way there is some parallel to the use of historical events.
37
be a view to position the past of what once was – a nostalgic depiction
of what the group once had. Arguably, the rise of the far Right in the
United States calls forth a call back to a “Golden Age’, where the superi-
ority of the white Anglo-Saxon settler, and colonizer, had positional au-
thority and racial supremacy over others (Johnson & Frombgen, 2009).
The Far Right Christian movements harken back to this racial supremacy
and Christian assimilation is commonly used to spur increasing polariza-
tion and radical extremism for the shifting political and religious diversi-
ty across America. The desperation to return to such a past may help vali-
date the nature of individuals to take more radicalized stances.
Conversely, radicalized groups may draw upon the injustices of the
past to justify the means for more extremist positions. Calling upon in-
appropriate use of military or state force against a particular group may
become a catalyst for the injustices of the past. Bloody Sunday, a peace-
ful protest on January 22, 1905 at the Tsar’s winter palace regarding the
plight of the common Russian people, is often attributed to the catalyst
and eventual fall of the Romanov Dynasty and the subsequent Bolshevik
Revolution. The massacre of approximately 500 individuals who peace-
fully demanded reforms from the increasing corrupt nature of the dynas-
ty was met with the Imperial forces drawing fire on the demonstrators.
In this case, the inappropriate act of violence became a catalyst for strikes
and riots across the country, and for growing sympathy and support for
the socialist revolutionary Bolsheviks. In this way, such an event adds le-
gitimacy and urgency to the collective memory and agency of a radical-
ized group that feels historically persecuted. Without the mechanism to
redress such injustices in the current day, in the recognition and formal
apologies of such atrocities, with substantive attempts to create any form
of reconciliation and understanding between groups, then there is more
inclination for radicalized groups to create momentum that something
drastic ought to occur if the balance of power is to be shifted.
Social media has shifted the lens for recruiting and attracting rad-
icalized youth towards extremist views. Vertigans (2011) starts from the
premise that social media in and of itself does not create a radicalized per-
son; rather, individuals who already hold dispositions toward more radi-
calized ideas may search out events, behaviors, to help validate their par-
ticular dispositions. However, the way in which the media is used to
describe a particular terrorist event has unintentionally helped to radical-
ized individuals and groups. The process of describing the event, how it
was done, and the fear and anxiety amongst the citizenry helps to further
legitimize the nature of those events for groups who wish to commit vio-
lent acts. In this way there is some parallel to the use of historical events.
37
