Radicalisation in the Global North - Tahir Abbas | 2025 Episode 17

Описание: This episode of The IR thinker examines how radicalisation is evolving across Western democracies, in conversation with Professor Tahir Abbas. Moving from the storming of the US Capitol and far-right online mobilisation in the United States, through post-Brexit identity politics and the Prevent strategy in the United Kingdom, to intergenerational tensions and social unrest in Western Europe, the discussion unpacks how online ecosystems, crises of capitalism, migration debates and gendered vulnerabilities interact to produce diverse pathways into extremism.

00:00 – Introduction
02:07 – Online platforms, far-right mobilisation, and the January 6 attack (USA)
05:30 – Online communication patterns preceding offline violence (USA)
08:33 – Framing extremist groups as terrorist organisations: unintended consequences (USA)
10:46 – Drawing the line between extremism and terrorism (USA)
14:32 – The rise of the incel subculture and gendered vulnerabilities (USA)
19:13 – Summary of US radicalisation
22:32 – Post-Brexit identity politics and the Prevent strategy (UK)
31:11 – Transnational networks and the 2023 riots (UK)
34:57 – The Gaza effect, British Muslim identity, and electoral mobilisation (UK)
39:31 – Summary of UK radicalisation
42:51 – Intergenerational differences within migrant and minority communities (Western Europe)
48:44 – Youth, information exposure, and latent radicalisation risks (Western Europe)
51:33 – Crises of capitalism, migration debates, and social unrest (Western Europe)
54:02 – Summary of Western European radicalisation
56:06 – Researching Radicalisation: Challenges and Reflections

Professor Tahir Abbas is Professor of Criminology and Global Justice at Aston University in Birmingham, and formerly Professor of Radicalisation Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. His interdisciplinary work spans criminology, sociology, politics, Islamic studies and critical terrorism studies, with a particular focus on radicalisation, extremism and political violence in Western contexts. He has authored and edited around twenty books, delivered lectures in over one hundred cities worldwide, and led the EU H2020 DRIVE project, which investigated how social exclusion, disenchantment and marginalisation shape polarising ideas, values and beliefs in north-western Europe.

More details: https://www.tahir-abbas.com/drive-pro...

Selected Publications:
Abbas, T. (2025). Capitalism, State Power, and the Production of Extremism. In SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-999...

Dutta, S., Abbas, T., & Bergh, S. I. (2025). Global counter-terrorism. Manchester University Press.

Groen, R., & Abbas, T. (2025). Voices of Gen Z. In Palgrave Advances in Child Justice. Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-967...

Dutta, S., & Abbas, T. (2024). Protecting the people: populism and masculine security in India and Hungary. Journal of Political Ideologies, 30(2), 517–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2024...

Tahir Abbas. (2019). Islamophobia and radicalisation: a vicious cycle. Oxford University Press.
Tahir Abbas. (2007). Muslim Britain: communities under pressure. Zed Books.

About the Host:
Martin Zubko, creator and host of 'The IR thinker', is passionate about exploring global issues in international relations through in-depth discussions with leading experts.

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