Digital campaigns of extremist violence through ressentiment: mapping the emotional mechanism of violent extremist manifestos

Capelos, Tereza, DaVisio, Kaitlyn and Salmela, Mikko (2024) Digital campaigns of extremist violence through ressentiment: mapping the emotional mechanism of violent extremist manifestos. In, Lilleker, Darren, Jackson, Daniel, Kalsnes, Bente, Mellado, Claudia, Trevisan, Filippo and Veneti, Anastasia (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Political Campaigning. Taylor & Francis, pp. 115-127. (doi:10.4324/9781003333326-11).

Abstract

This chapter brings together studies in political psychology and political communication offering a novel analytical framework for the examination of the psychological content of digital manifestos of violent extremists, approached as campaigns of political violence. Manifestos are distributed alongside violent attacks as a method of sensationalizing these acts, dispersing extremist ideology, and garnering followers. We discuss how the analysis of the psychological components of extremist rhetoric benefits from focusing on perceptions, motivations, and justifications, under the analytical framework of ressentiment. We explain why the rich content of manifestos presenting violent extremists as martyrs, warriors, or saviors, the pervasive grievances and frustrations, the shallow social bonds and out-group dehumanization, the motivations to seek revenge and defend, and the morally disengaged justifications of intentions and actions are best not viewed in isolation, but rather coalesce under the emotional mechanism of ressentiment. Finally, we propose an empirical framework that examines the psychological undercurrent of campaigns of extremist violence and consider its applications for the study of reactionary political divides and extremist politics more broadly.

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Contributors

Author: Tereza Capelos

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