Mass Radicalisation on the Rise? How the Extreme Fringes Have Exploited Social Media and Conquered the Political Middle

Conspiracy theorists. Incels. White Nationalists. Once, these groups all belonged on the fringes of the political spectrum. Today, accelerated by the polycrisis of the pandemic, economic crisis, global conflict and rapid technological change, their ideas are becoming more widespread. Based on Julia’s undercover investigations for her latest book Going Mainstream, she explores why outlandish ideas have taken hold and conspiracy myths are spreading faster than ever and, how, united by a shared sense of grievance and scepticism about institutions, radicalised individuals are influencing the mainstream in the CEE region as never before. Lastly, Julia will address how we can brace ourselves to safeguard democracy, media and human rights.

Dr. Julia Ebner is the Leader of the Violent Extremism Lab at the University of Oxford's Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Calleva Centre for Evolution and Human Science (Magdalen College, Oxford) and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, where she has led projects on online radicalisation, terrorism, conspiracy myths and hate speech. Julia is also an award-winning and internationally bestselling author of several books, including The Rage: The Vicious Circle of Islamist and Far-Right Extremism, Going Dark: The Secret Social Lives of Extremists and Going Mainstream: How Extremists Are Taking Over. Based on her research, she has given evidence to numerous governments, as well as advised intelligence agencies, tech firms and international organisations such as the UN, Europol and NATO. She has written for media outlets such as the Guardian, Financial Times, Washington Post and Süddeutsche Zeitung and regularly gives public talks and guest lectures at universities in the UK, Europe and the United States. Julia holds a DPhil in Anthropology from the University of Oxford and a dual MSc from Peking University and the London School of Economics.

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