I just finished watching a presentation, by Kim Cragin https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1057610X.2022.2133346
It sparked questions in me: how do we define “violent extremism” (VE)? How much violence must be present in order for extremism to qualify as VE? Is there even a difference between extremism and “violent” extremism?
There is surely a difference between a group that forms a militia, stocks up an armory, trains in combat and an organization that has more covert ways of inflicting violence – perhaps through individual abuse and indoctrination of members into an ideology that espouses violence (like a cult). But then you need to think about all the monopolies that exist in capitalism, and aren’t they also committing violence on a larger scale, through enabling poverty and corporations to take control of the lives of entire groups of people. Dictators are violent extremists, but they, and many in their countries would deny this label. Would we label Putin as a violent extremist? He himself isn’t the one committing acts of murder, yet he is orchestrating a genocide in Ukraine. Would we also call the other side, Zelensky, also a violent extremist? He is commanding an army of civilians to kill and be killed in a war. I feel that many of us, though, would be hesitant to call him that.
I’m sure I have many more thoughts on this, but I won’t go down my mind’s rabbit hole right now. I’ll add to this when I do!