Cumulative Extremism: How Violent Social Movements Co-Evolve

The concept of “cumulative extremism”, defined by Roger Eatwell in 2006 as “the way in which one form of extremism can feed off another and magnify other forms [of extremism],” forms a regular feature of policy, media and academic discourse on political violence. Yet in spite of it’s frequent invocation to describe the violent interaction between extreme right-wing, anti-fascist and radical Islamist groups very little attempt has been made by scholars to examine both the conceptual parameters and common assumptions underpinning our use of the term, which in turn skews our analysis of such interactions, and also the broader environment within which such violence is carried out which can facilitate but can also constrain its intensification. Blending historical analysis and social movement theoretical approaches this paper offers several suggestions as to how we can sharpen our discussion of “cumulative extremism”. It explores how violent social movements “co-evolve” within a broader political and cultural environment. Focusing upon patterns of “interactive escalation” the paper problematizes scholarly and policy focus simply upon the “radical milieux” itself, which, it is argued, omits other key actors that can contribute to the escalation, de-escalation and non-escalation of political violence resulting in skewed analyses/responses to political violence. It concludes with an exploration of how “interactive escalation” can effect the development of radical (micro-)cultures, political and discursive opportunity structures, and the resulting potential for the acculturation of individual activists or groups into certain forms of more extreme political violence.