Friction How Radicalization Happens to Them and Us

Author: Clark McCauley; Sophia Moskalenko
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780199747436
Published In: March 2011
Format: Hardback , 248 pages
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Explores the ways in which people are radicalized, an issue that is particularly important to the public in the post-9/11 era
Draws from a wide range of case material from Russia in the late 19th century, the US in the 1970s, and Afghanistan after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s
Outlines the effects of government action on radicalization
Offers new perspectives on radicalization occuring on a large scale, not simply at the individual or group level
Argues provocatively that the same mechanisms are at work in radicalizing terrorists and the radicalization of states targeted by terrorists

This accessible book identifies twelve mechanisms of political radicalization that can move individuals, groups, and the masses to increased sympathy and support for political violence. Terrorism is an extreme form of radicalization, and the book describes pathways to terrorism to demonstrate the twelve mechanisms at work.

Written by two psychologists who are acknowledged radicalization experts and consultants to the Department of Homeland Security, Friction draws heavily on case histories. The case material is wide-ranging - drawn from Russia in the late 1800s, the US in the 1970s, and the radical Islam encouraged by the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. Taken together, the twelve mechanisms show how unexceptional people are moved to exceptional violence in the conflict between states and non-state challengers. Captivating, and with psychological overtones, this timely book covers one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Readership: Anyone interested in politics, security, or terrorism; undergraduates, graduate students, and teaching and research faculty in areas of conflict resolution, cultural psychology, human aggression, intergroup relations, international relations, terrorism, war, peace studies, political psychology, political radicalization, political mobilization, security studies, political activism, or social psychology; and government officials.

Chapter One: Introduction
Section 1
Mechanisms of Individual Radicalization
Chapter Two: Personal Grievance
Chapter Three: Group Grievance
Chapter Four: Slippery Slope
Chapter Five: Love
Chapter Six: Risk and Status
Chapter Seven: Unfreezing
Section 2
Mechanisms of Group Radicalization
Chapter Eight: Group Polarization
Chapter Nine: Group Competition
Chapter Ten: Group Isolation
Section 3
Mechanisms of Mass Radicalization
Chapter Eleven: Jujitsu
Chapter Twelve: Hate
Chapter Thirteen: Martyrdom
Section 4
Wrapping Up
Chapter Fourteen: Osama bin Laden
Chapter Fifteen: Them and Us

Clark McCauley, Professor of Psychology, Bryn Mawr College, and Sophia Moskalenko, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Homeland Security; Consultant, Oak Ridge National Lab

Clark McCauley is Rachel C. Hale Professor of Sciences and Mathematics and Co-Director of the Solomon Asch Center for the Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict at Bryn Mawr College. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970. With Dan Chirot he co-authoredWhy Not Kill Them All? The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder, published by Princeton University Press in 2006. He is founding editor of the journal Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict: Pathways toward Terrorism and Genocide. Sophia Moskalenko is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (NC-START) and a consultant with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. Her research and publications have focused on group identification, political activism, radicalization, and terrorism.