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“Today I die like Jesus Christ”: an analysis of ressentiment in perceptions, motivations and justifications of violent extremist manifestos

“Today I die like Jesus Christ”: an analysis of ressentiment in perceptions, motivations and justifications of violent extremist manifestos
“Today I die like Jesus Christ”: an analysis of ressentiment in perceptions, motivations and justifications of violent extremist manifestos

Far-right extremists distribute digital manifestos alongside their violent attacks as a method of sensationalizing their acts, dispersing their ideology, and garnering followers. This study sheds light on the psychological characteristics of the perceptions, motivations, and justifications evident in their manifestos. We analyze their self-perceptions as martyrs, warriors, or saviors, their perceptions of world injustice, their motivations of grievance, humiliation, seeking revenge and defense and their justifications founded on absolutist thinking, moral disengagement and us vs. them divisions—mapping out how they deliver their message through the emotional mechanism of ressentiment. We show the complexity of the manifestos content, particularly in reference to the way extremists present themselves as martyrs, warriors, or saviors, the pervasive reference of grievances and frustrations, the shallow social bonds and outgroup dehumanization, their strong motivations to seek revenge and defend, and the morally disengaged justifications of their intentions and actions. This project addresses an important gap in extant literature and offers valuable insights to academics and practitioners on the discourses that promote mobilization and engagement with political violence.

Extremism, far right, grievance, humiliation, ressentiment, violent extremist manifestos
0954-6553
Capelos, Tereza
bd3b5744-cbcc-44a4-9b73-b088d82154e7
DaVisio, Kaitlyn
c37c0fce-7526-4998-a467-d3405645ad48
Salmela, Mikko
e1deaa50-cfe6-47b3-939e-6856ea5a1513
Capelos, Tereza
bd3b5744-cbcc-44a4-9b73-b088d82154e7
DaVisio, Kaitlyn
c37c0fce-7526-4998-a467-d3405645ad48
Salmela, Mikko
e1deaa50-cfe6-47b3-939e-6856ea5a1513

Capelos, Tereza, DaVisio, Kaitlyn and Salmela, Mikko (2024) “Today I die like Jesus Christ”: an analysis of ressentiment in perceptions, motivations and justifications of violent extremist manifestos. Terrorism and Political Violence. (doi:10.1080/09546553.2024.2379043).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Far-right extremists distribute digital manifestos alongside their violent attacks as a method of sensationalizing their acts, dispersing their ideology, and garnering followers. This study sheds light on the psychological characteristics of the perceptions, motivations, and justifications evident in their manifestos. We analyze their self-perceptions as martyrs, warriors, or saviors, their perceptions of world injustice, their motivations of grievance, humiliation, seeking revenge and defense and their justifications founded on absolutist thinking, moral disengagement and us vs. them divisions—mapping out how they deliver their message through the emotional mechanism of ressentiment. We show the complexity of the manifestos content, particularly in reference to the way extremists present themselves as martyrs, warriors, or saviors, the pervasive reference of grievances and frustrations, the shallow social bonds and outgroup dehumanization, their strong motivations to seek revenge and defend, and the morally disengaged justifications of their intentions and actions. This project addresses an important gap in extant literature and offers valuable insights to academics and practitioners on the discourses that promote mobilization and engagement with political violence.

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Today I Die like Jesus Christ An Analysis of Ressentiment in Perceptions Motivations and Justifications of Violent Extremist Manifestos - Version of Record
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e-pub ahead of print date: 9 August 2024
Keywords: Extremism, far right, grievance, humiliation, ressentiment, violent extremist manifestos

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 495790
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495790
ISSN: 0954-6553
PURE UUID: 92218c5e-ebad-4163-b7e7-c5439ba671f7
ORCID for Tereza Capelos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-4509

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Date deposited: 22 Nov 2024 17:44
Last modified: 23 Nov 2024 03:10

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Contributors

Author: Tereza Capelos ORCID iD
Author: Kaitlyn DaVisio
Author: Mikko Salmela

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