Mindsets and narratives: A commentary on Quassim Cassam’s Extremism

Naomi Kloosterboer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In his newest book, Extremism (Cassam 2022), philosopher Quassim Cassam brings together and analyses many different concepts in extremism studies, such as ideology, violence, radicalisation, grievances, counternarratives, fanaticism, radicalism, and fundamentalism. Central to the book is the distinction between three different types of extremism: ideological, methods, and psychological extremism. This distinction illuminates the different ways in which the term is used and can be used to identify an extremist.

In this commentary, I question what I consider to be Cassam’s predominantly individualistic approach to becoming and being an extremist. I will first focus on one of the types – psychological or mindset extremism – and question its relation to (counter-)extremist narratives. Next, I draw attention to Cassam’s emphasis on the role of epistemic agency instead of the role of social or structural factors in radicalisation processes, and argue that conceptualising agency as situated diminishes the dichotomy between these different explanations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1026-1031
Number of pages6
JournalCritical Studies on Terrorism
Volume15
Issue number4
Early online date15 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Funding

FundersFunder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme851613

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