Whatextremismis,howextremistideologiesareconstructed,andwhyextremismcanescalateintoviolence.Arisingtideofextremistmovementsthreatentodestabilizecivilsocietiesaroundtheglobe.Ithasneverbeenmoreimportanttounderstandextremism,yetthedictionarydefinition--alogicalstartingpointinasearchforunderstanding--tellsusonlythatextremismis“thequalityorstateofbeingextreme.“InthisvolumeintheMITPressEssentialKnowledgeseries,J.M.Bergeroffersanuancedintroductiontoextremistmovements,explainingwhatextremismis,howextremistideologiesareconstructed,andwhyextremismcanescalateintoviolence.Bergershowsthatalthoughtheideologicalcontentofextremistmovementsvarieswidely,therearecommonstructuralelements.Berger,anexpertonextremistmovementsandterrorism,explainsthatextremismarisesfromaperceptionof“usversusthem,“intensifiedbytheconvictionthatthesuccessof“us“isinseparablefromhostileactsagainst“them.“Extremismdiffersfromordinaryunpleasantness--run-of-the-millhatredandracism--byitssweepingrationalizationofaninsistenceonviolence.Bergerillustrateshisargumentwithcasestudiesandexamplesfromaroundtheworldandthroughouthistory,fromthedestructionofCarthagebytheRomans--oftencalled“thefirstgenocide“--totheapocalypticjihadismofAlQaeda,America’snew“alt-right,“andtheanti-SemiticconspiracytractTheProtocolsoftheEldersofZion.Hedescribestheevolutionofidentitymovements,individualandgroupradicalization,andmore.Ifweunderstandthecausesofextremism,andthecommonelementsofextremistmovements,Bergersays,wewillbemoreeffectiveincounteringit.
