Abstract

Hate crimes. Misinformation and conspiracy theories. Foiled white-supremacist plots. The signs of growing far-right extremism are all around us, and communities around the globe are struggling to understand how so many people are being radicalized and why they are increasingly attracted to violent movements.

In her lecture, Cynthia Miller-Idriss shows how tomorrow’s far-right nationalists are being recruited in surprising places, from college campuses and mixed martial arts gyms to clothing stores, online gaming chat rooms, and YouTube cooking channels. She demonstrates how young people on the margins of our communities are targeted in these settings, and how the path to radicalization is a nuanced process of moving in and out of far-right scenes throughout adolescence and adulthood. Most importantly, she offers ideas about the role that all of us – from academics to parents to TV presenters – can work together to halt the march of extremism in the US, Europe, and around the world.

Cynthia Miller-Idriss is a Professor in the School of Public Affairs and in the School of Education at the American University in Washington, D.C., where she is also the founding director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL).

Online event. For details and registration see here.