Radicalisation of ‘lone actors’

TY - CHAP

T1 - Radicalisation of ‘lone actors’

AU - O’connor, Francis

AU - Lindekilde, Lasse

AU - Malthaner, Stefan

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 selection and editorial matter, Joel Busher, Leena Malkki and Sarah Marsden; individual chapters, the contributors.

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - Lone-actor terrorism is a low-frequency phenomenon. Many people adopt extremist or radical views that endorse the use of violence, but only an infinitesimal minority ever conduct individual acts of violence or terrorism. Moreover, lone-actor terrorists are often thought to prepare and perpetrate violent attacks on their own but also as predominantly ‘self-radicalized’ individuals. How are they socialised into radical worldviews and/or how do they adopt violent forms of action without the support of militant groups and radical milieus? Research in recent years has confirmed that so-called lone actors are in fact not as ‘lone’ as the description seems to suggest. As much as collective radicalisation is a relational process driven by interactions with other individuals, movements, and institutions in one’s immediate social environment, lone-actor radicalisation is similarly relationally informed. The ‘loneness’ of lone actors is always relative and never absolute and is itself a form of relational configuration. Drawing on the Lone Actor Radicalisation and Terrorism (LART) dataset (N=306), this chapter identifies the emergence and development of the field, with a particular focus on the most recent innovations and transformations of lone-actor radicalisation. The chapter makes the case for a relational perspective. We argue that, in addition to examining the social and personal backgrounds and histories of these perpetrators, we need to examine the dynamic social processes in which lone-actor attacks are embedded, as shaped and driven by online as well as offline relations and interactions.

AB - Lone-actor terrorism is a low-frequency phenomenon. Many people adopt extremist or radical views that endorse the use of violence, but only an infinitesimal minority ever conduct individual acts of violence or terrorism. Moreover, lone-actor terrorists are often thought to prepare and perpetrate violent attacks on their own but also as predominantly ‘self-radicalized’ individuals. How are they socialised into radical worldviews and/or how do they adopt violent forms of action without the support of militant groups and radical milieus? Research in recent years has confirmed that so-called lone actors are in fact not as ‘lone’ as the description seems to suggest. As much as collective radicalisation is a relational process driven by interactions with other individuals, movements, and institutions in one’s immediate social environment, lone-actor radicalisation is similarly relationally informed. The ‘loneness’ of lone actors is always relative and never absolute and is itself a form of relational configuration. Drawing on the Lone Actor Radicalisation and Terrorism (LART) dataset (N=306), this chapter identifies the emergence and development of the field, with a particular focus on the most recent innovations and transformations of lone-actor radicalisation. The chapter makes the case for a relational perspective. We argue that, in addition to examining the social and personal backgrounds and histories of these perpetrators, we need to examine the dynamic social processes in which lone-actor attacks are embedded, as shaped and driven by online as well as offline relations and interactions.

U2 - 10.4324/9781003035848-16

DO - 10.4324/9781003035848-16

M3 - Book chapter

AN - SCOPUS:85176825345

SN - 9780367476847

SP - 213

EP - 230

BT - The Routledge Handbook on Radicalisation and Countering Radicalisation

A2 - Busher, J.

A2 - Malkki, L.

A2 - Marsden, S.

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -