Call for Papers: Digital Media and Political Extremism

We gladly invite you and your colleagues to contribute to the following volume:

Call for Papers

Sally Hohnstein, Dr. Maruta Herding & Michaela Glaser

Deutsches Jugendinstitut (DJI), Research Center for Prevention of Right-Wing Extremism and Radicalization

Edited Volume on:

Digital Media and Political Extremism. State of Knowledge, Challenges and Pedagogical Means

The Research Center for Prevention of Right-Wing Extremism and Radicalization, a research unit at Deutsches Jugendinstitut in Halle (Saale), Germany, is about to publish an edited volume on issues around digital media and political Extremism (German working title: „Digitale Medien und politischer Extremismus. Wissensstand, Herausforderungen und Ansatzpunkte für die pädagogische Praxis“). The volume aims at bringing together (1) empirical research results on the role and functions of digital media for adolescent Extremist affiliation, fascination and further radicalisation processes as well as (2) new and creative approaches for pedagogical preventative work, and making those insights available for professionals and other people concerned. Thematically, the collection focuses particularly on the political Extremist phenomena of ‘right-wing Extremism’ and ‘Islamist Extremism’.

Background

Digital media have been gaining significant relevance for young people´s everyday behaviour as well as for persuasive political communication and recruitment practices of Extremist groups. These developments issue challenges to pedagogical professionals. Both, Right-wing and Islamist Extremist collective ideological and social propositions are widespread in digital media and therefore easily accessible for everyone. Young people could encounter such propositions and deal with them in some form or another.

One difficulty that shows up here is that there is actually only little empirically based scientific knowledge on the connections between digital media on the one hand, and affiliation and radicalisation processes on the other. Despite a remarkable increase of the number of mainly phenomenon descriptions and theoretical work as well as media content analysis studies during the last decade, this fundamental knowledge gap still remains. Empirical studies, which are aiming at the reconstruction and explanation of the specific functions of digital media for individual Extremist fascination, engagement, interaction and continuance processes – also with regard to the individuals´ each different set of life experiences and predispositions – still seem to be rather rare.

However, such knowledge is essential for understanding why some young people would turn towards Extremist propositions (whereas others would not). Again, this perspective of understanding is fundamental for the development of promising pedagogical practices on issues around digital media and political Extremism.

In addition to that, pedagogical professionals currently appear to be uncertain about approaching issues related to digital media and political Extremism. In Germany, there are thus far only few pedagogic attempts to develop and test specific (online as well as offline) approaches that aim at preventing or dampening young people´s orientation towards Extremist propositions in virtual environments Profound experiences for professionals to rely on are therefore rather limited.

Contributions are welcome to the following themes:

Phenomenon-related contributions present and discuss

- empirical results on the role of digital media for fascination, engagement, interaction and continuance processes in the fields of Right-Wing Extremism and Islamist Extremism,

- empirical results on the role of digital media for other non-Extremist fascination, engagement, interaction and continuance processes (i.e. related to fan scenes, amok) that could be usable for explaining similar processes related to Right-Wing Extremism and Islamist Extremism.

Besides that we further welcome contributions, which present and discuss

- pedagogical approaches and implementation experiences of work on issues related to digital media and political Extremism, either as research papers (i.e. based on evaluation results) or experience-based work reports. In this subject area both, practitioners and researchers are invited to contribute.

Submission

Please submit your abstracts of 2,000 signs (including blanks) to hohnstein@dji.de, herding@dji.de und glaser@dji.de until 7 February 7, 2017. You will be notified on acceptance of your paper by February 23, 2017.

All contributions shall be handed in by June 30, 2017.

After an editorial review process contributors will have four weeks for paper revision.

The collection shall be published in the end of 2017.

Research papers can include a research question, theses, information on data and methods and the main (or expected) findings. Work-in-progress papers (also from PhD students and emerging researchers) are equally welcome as are those on results from finished research projects.
Papers on professional practice knowledge can include a short outline of the basic assumptions underlying the work, a brief project sketch as well as an illustrative presentation of work experiences (including reflections on successes, problems and limits).

Papers can be submitted in English or German language. A single contribution should not exceed a total of 40,000 signs (including blanks) including references and footnotes.

We are looking forward for your submission!

Sally Hohnstein, Dr. Maruta Herding und Michaela Glaser

For further information on the Research Center for Prevention of Right-Wing Extremism and Radicalization and Deutsches Jugendinstitut please visit:
www.dji.de/AFS