By Fonteh Akum, Remadji Hoinathy and Malik Samue

In the highly volatile Lake Chad Basin region, dealing with ex-Boko Haram combatants and associates presents complex strategic and policy challenges for local, national and regional stakeholders. Understanding why and how individuals journey out of extremism is necessary to shape approaches to rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation. These insights also provide a path from countering violent extremism to peacebuilding and long-term stability.

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2021. 28p.

By Norma Mendoza-Denton

In this ground-breaking new book on the Norteña and Sureña (North/South) youth gang dynamic, cultural anthropologist and linguist Norma Mendoza-Denton looks at the daily lives of young Latinas and their innovative use of speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges that signal their gang affiliations and ideologies. Her engrossing ethnographic and sociolinguistic study reveals the connection of language behavior and other symbolic practices among Latina gang girls in California, and their connections to larger social processes of nationalism, racial/ethnic consciousness, and gender identity.An engrossing account of the Norte and Sur girl gangs - the largest Latino gangs in California Traces how elements of speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges are used to signal social affiliation and come together to form youth gang styles Explores the relationship between language and the body: one of the most striking aspects of the tattoos, make-up, and clothing of the gang members Unlike other studies – which focus on violence, fighting and drugs – Mendoza-Denton delves into the commonly-overlooked cultural and linguistic aspects of youth gangs.

Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008. 354p.

By Stapleton, Patricia; Gerstein, Daniel M., Willis, Henry H.

From the Webpage Description: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has to respond to crises generated by a variety of threats and hazards, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and public health emergencies. When confronted with such challenges in the past, DHS has relied on scientific and technical advice and solutions to identify gaps in its processes and operations. By leveraging this technical advice and support, DHS seeks to improve its understanding of the homeland security threats that it manages and its mission effectiveness. To enhance DHS's ability to leverage science and technology communities to support the use of science, technology, innovation, and analytical capabilities during crisis response, RAND researchers conducted a literature review and discussions with subject-matter experts to understand how these capabilities have been used during past national security crises and how they could be used in the future. In this Perspective, the researchers offer a conceptual framework for employment of the science and technology communities' capabilities during crisis response. They also present five imperatives that should be considered for providing technical support during a crisis and a concept for how to institutionalize that support. These critical elements form the basis for providing quality technical support to crisis leadership."

RAND Corporation. 2022-09. 32p.

By Xavier-Brier, Mari; Grieco, Julie

From the Executive Summary: "This report examines many factors, such as barriers to providing aid, FEMA's coordinating role in disaster recovery efforts including local factors impacting damage assessments and delivering resources, and efforts by federal agencies to comply with the Stafford Act and other civil rights obligations. In addition to FEMA, the report also assesses aid provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Small Business Administration for compliance with federal civil rights law and policy. [...] This report is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the impacts of Hurricanes María and Harvey, potential civil rights implications regarding federal responses to natural disasters, and how the storms impacted various demographic populations. Chapter 2 addresses FEMA's role and obligations to ensure that the agency treats all disaster survivors equitably, and the role of coordinating aid with state, local, and territorial governments, and nongovernmental organizations. Chapter 2 also examines civil rights concerns regarding disaster aid. Next, Chapter 3 provides an in-depth analysis of the federal responses to Hurricanes Harvey and María. This chapter also provides a comparative look at the responses to each storm, analyzes additional challenges FEMA faced working with other federal agencies and with state and local officials in allocating and distributing aid, and discusses compliance efforts with the Stafford Act. Finally, Chapter 4 identifies potential civil rights issues associated with disaster recovery efforts and developing practices to address them. Several experts, stakeholders, and survivors provided recommendations following the briefings, which are also included in Chapter 4."

United States Commission on Civil Rights. 2022-09-21. 936p.

By Miller, Carl. Smith, Melanie. Marsh, Oliver; Balint, Kata; Inskip, Christopher Jozef; Visser, Francesca

From the Executive Summary: "Joining air, sea, land, space and cyber, information is increasingly seen as a theatre of war. In this report, ISD [Institute for Strategic Dialogue] and CASM Technology set out to examine the ways in which Wikipedia may be vulnerable to the forms of systematic manipulation that have been exposed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit and a number of other information spaces. The report combines a literature review on publicly available research and information around Wikipedia, expert interviews and a case study. For the case study, the English-language Wikipedia page for the Russo-Ukrainian war was chosen, where accounts that edited the page and have subsequently been blocked from editing were examined. Their editing behaviour on other Wikipedia pages was mapped to understand the scale and overlap of contributions. This network mapping has seemed to identify a particular strategy used by bad actors of dividing edits on similar pages across a number of accounts in order to evade detection. Researchers then tested an approach of filtering edits by blocked editors based on whether they add references to state-media affiliated or sponsored sites, and found that a number of edits exhibited narratives consistent with Kremlin-sponsored information warfare. Based on this, researchers were able to identify a number of other Wikipedia pages where blocked editors introduced state-affiliated domains, which helps spotlight various regions of Wikipedia that might be investigated more closely."

Institute for Strategic Dialogue. CASM Technology. 2022. 25p.

By Julie Atella and Lindsay Turner with Kelsey Imbertson, Sophak Mom

Minnesota’s Safe Harbor law provides the legislative framework for legal protections and state services for sexually exploited, including sexually trafficked, youth. Passed in 2011, this legislation shifted legal definitions of “sexually exploited youth” and “delinquent child” to acknowledge that exploited minors are not delinquent, but are victims and should be treated as such. Definitions for “prostitution,” “patron,” and “prostitute” were also amended. This initial legislation also introduced a diversion program for 16- and 17-year-olds engaged in prostitution. Furthermore, the legislation increased penalties for facilitators and patrons of commercial sexual exploitation. Finally, the legislation directed the formation of a comprehensive, multi-state-agency approach to ensure communities statewide can effectively identify sexually exploited youth (see description of the No Wrong Door framework, Appendix A). Partially in response to advocacy, as well as evaluation findings and recommendations, the legislation was later expanded so that youth age 17 and younger are protected from criminal prosecution, and youth age 24 and younger are eligible for services. However, young adults age 18 and over can still be criminally prosecuted. It is important to note that Safe Harbor provides services to young adults through age 24, so people who are receiving services from the grantees are generally referred to as “youth.”

This biennial report includes findings and recommendations about the Safe Harbor initiative, based on key informant interviews, participation surveys and interviews, focus groups, and information about youth collected in a database by grantees.

St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research, 2019. 102p.

By Mackenzie Hart, Jacob Davey, Eisha Maharasingam-Shah, Ciaran O’Connor, Aoife Gallagher

This report documents the second-year findings of a study by researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) which tracks the online ecosystems used by RWEs (right wing extremists) in Canada. This work is delivered in the context of a larger study into Canadian right-wing extremism (RWE), led by a team of researchers at Ontario Tech University (OTU) in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of New Brunswick. It contains an update to the findings laid out in an interim report published in 2020 which detailed RWE Canadian social media activity throughout 2019. The interim report used the same methodological and definitional framework laid out in this report.

Beirut; Berlin; London; Paris; Washington DC : Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2021. 65p.

By Michael Danahy

Many of the contributing factors leading to extremism and terrorism have been exacerbated in recent years by both domestic and transnational events. While U.S. counterterrorism efforts have been largely focused on international terrorist groups, there has been a progressive resurgence of far-left and farright violent extremism in the United States and Western Europe. This increasing threat has not only resulted in attacks on civilians but has targeted law enforcement as well. This author reviewed and analyzed publicly available news articles, journals, databases, expert opinions, and other findings on far-right extremism content to authenticate and detail the extent to which far-right violent extremists have targeted law enforcement over the last several decades and their current trend. The report gives an overview on the various tactics and strategies far-right violent extremists implement in the overall efforts to expand their influence and achieve their intended goals. The findings suggest that far-right violent extremists will utilize both physical and psychological methods and tools to manipulate people, justify actions, and accumulate power. The findings also shed light on the efforts of law enforcement, counterterrorism analysts, and scholars to counter such a growing threat, including actions that the public can undertake to further limit its spread.

Marlborough, MA: American Counterterrorism Targeting and Resilience Institute (ACTRI), 2022.

By Bulent Kenes

As a pro-Second Amendment movement, the Boogaloo Boys are easily recognizable because of their Hawaiian-themed Aloha shirts and masks along with their semi-automatic weapons. Having the basic characteristics of anti-establishment far-right populists and seeing the outbreak of violence as something like a party, typically accelerationist Boogaloo Boys use these Hawaiian shirts to hide their intention to trigger a civil war to overthrow what they regard as a corrupt establishment in the US.

Brussels: European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), 2021. 29p.

By J.M. Berger

The Turner Diaries, the infamous racist dystopian novel by neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce, has inspired more than 200 murders since its publication in 1978, including the single deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, the Oklahoma City bombing. The book is arguably the most important single work of white nationalist propaganda in the English language, but it is not a singular artifact. The Turner Diaries is part of a genre of racist dystopian propaganda dating back to the U.S. Civil War. This paper will document the books that directly and indirectly inspired Turner and examine the extensive violence that the novel has inspired. By comparing and contrasting The Turner Diaries to its less-remembered predecessors, this paper analyses the reasons for the novel’s lasting impact, including its focus on rational choices over identity choices, its simplification of white nationalist ideology, its repeated calls to action, and the powerfully persuasive nature of dystopian narratives, which can be understood as a secular analogue for religious apocalyptic texts.

The Hague: International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, 2016. 50p.

By Andrew MacDonald (William Luther Pierce}

From Wikipedia: The Turner Diaries is a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. It depicts a violent revolution in the United States which leads to the overthrow of the federal government, a nuclear war, and, ultimately, a race war which leads to the systematic extermination of non-whites.

There exists such an extensive body of literature on the Great Revolution, including the memoirs of virtually every one of its leading figures who survived into the New Era, that yet another book dealing with the events and circumstances of that time of cataclysmic upheaval and rebirth may seem superfluous. The Turner Diaries, however, provides an insight into the background of the Great Revolution which is uniquely valuable for two reasons: 1) It is a fairly detailed and continuous record of a portion of the struggle during the years immediately before the culmination of the Revolution, written as it happened, on a day-to-day basis. Thus, it is free of the distortion which often afflicts hindsight. Although the diaries of other participants in that mighty conflict are extant, none which has yet been published provides as complete and detailed a record. 2) It is written from the viewpoint of a rank-and-file member of the Organization, and, although it consequently suffers from myopia occasionally, it is a totally frank document. Unlike the accounts recorded by some of the leaders of the Revolution, its author did not have one eye on his place in history as he wrote. As we read the pages which follow, we get a better understanding than from any other source, probably, of the true thoughts and feelings of the men and women whose struggle and sacrifice saved our race in its time of greatest peril and brought about the New Era. Earl Turner, who wrote these diaries, was born in 43 BNE in Los Angeles, which was the name of a vast metropolitan area on the west coast of the North American continent in the Old Era, encompassing the present communities of Eckartsville and Wesselton as well as a great deal of the surrounding countryside.

New York: Barricade Books, 1996. 280p.

By Alejandro J. Beutel and Daryl Johnson

The Three Percenter movement is a subset of the larger far-right anti-government militia movement, organized primarily around intense fear and loathing of the U.S. federal government. Although fixated on the federal government, anti-government extremists use coded rhetoric that also expresses anxiety toward historically disenfranchised racial/ethnic/religious minorities. Their ideology and narratives are malleable enough to identify additional perceived enemies, including Muslims. They also often attempt to portray themselves as armed protectors of the U.S. Constitution against tyrants-in-waiting (the U.S. federal government) and various collaborators (anti-fascists [“antifa”], Black Lives Matter, George Soros, Muslims, and others).

Washington, DC: Newsline Institute, 2021. 31p.

By Elin Eriksson

This bachelor’s thesis aspires to contribute to the field of research concerning women and far-right extremism. Scholars have during recent years called attention to the surge of far-right extremism and female participation in jihadi terrorism. However, when these fields of research meet, various knowledge gaps are distinguishable. The explicit research gap that this thesis aims to fill concerns a lack of comparative research on how men and women in the extreme-right perceive women. To fill this gap, this thesis aspires to describe how women are perceived, on a sex-disaggregated basis, in the far-right extremist movement by answering the research question: How do the female far-right extremists in Proud Girls and the male far-right extremists in Proud Boys' perception of women differ? Using the gender-separated US extreme-right group Proud Boys/Proud Girls as a typical case, the study performs an ideology analysis to distinguish how the groups perceive women. Thus, this study contributes to the field by presenting a comparative analysis of how extreme right perceives women. The results of the study suggest a difference in how Proud Boys and Proud Girls perceive women as the former conveys a more misogynist perception whereas the latter adheres to a more empowering view of women.

Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala University, 2021. 39p.

Every day, as virulent white supremacists make their hatred known, we immediately and rightly call them extremists. We have not been nearly as unequivocal in our condemnation when it comes to men who express violent anger toward and loathing for women.

In fact, these groups warrant a side by side examination. There is a robust symbiosis between misogyny and white supremacy; the two ideologies are powerfully intertwined. While not all misogynists are racists, and not every white supremacist is a misogynist, a deep-seated loathing of women acts as a connective tissue between many white supremacists, especially those in the alt right, and their lesser-known brothers in hate like incels (involuntary celibates), MRAs (Men’s Rights Activists) and PUAs (Pick Up Artists).

This cross-pollination means the largely anonymous outrage of the men’s rights arena acts as a bridge to the white supremacist and anti-Semitic ideology of the alt right. After all, it’s not a huge leap from “women’s quest for equal rights threatens my stature as a man” to “minorities’ and women’s quests for equal rights threaten my stature as a white man.” It also means that to fully comprehend either white supremacy or misogyny, we have to attempt to understand both.

ADL considers misogyny a dangerous and underestimated component of extremism, and this report marks the start of an ongoing effort to investigate the ways in which people in the white supremacist, incel and MRA orbits feed and inform one another’s poisonous hatred of women.

New York: ADL, 2018. 20p.

By The Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism

This report examines the extremist and antisemitic trends and incidents in the state of Florida from 2020 to the present.

The past two years have seen a significant increase in extremist related incidents both nationwide and in the state of Florida. These incidents have been driven, in part, by widespread disinformation and conspiracy theories which have animated extremists and fueled antisemitism. The result: unrest and violence, from the January 6 insurrection to white supremacist activity to a spike in hate crimes.

In Florida, new white supremacist groups have formed, including White Lives Matter, Sunshine State Nationalists, NatSoc Florida and Florida Nationalists, while existing neo-Nazi and accelerationist groups have broadened their audience both online and on the ground activities. Other extremist groups such as Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys have shifted their strategies to focus on the local level, disrupting school board meetings and even running for political office.

New York: ADL, 2022. 42p.

By Digital Citizens Alliance

Digital platforms enabled the disturbing rise of domestic extremism, culminating with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Militia groups use social media networks to plan operations, recruit new members and spread anti-democracy propaganda, a new Digital Citizens Alliance (Digital Citizens) and Coalition for a Safer Web (CSW) investigation has found.

Taking a page from Jihadists, these extremist groups operate along the fringes of where platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will let them. Federal prosecutors investigating the Capitol riot revealed how militia groups used social media platforms to coordinate and prepare for possible conflict with Antifa. But the joint Digital Citizens / CSW investigation found the use of platforms goes well beyond tactical planning. Militias rely on the platforms to share their beliefs and ideology and recruit new members. The militias get a boost from their ideological simpatico with mis/disinformation groups like QAnon, which provides oxygen that militias use to fan the flames.

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  The anti-government militia movement first emerged after the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff, the 1993 Waco siege, and the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995. After Oklahoma City, U.S. law enforcement cracked down on domestic terrorism and the militia movement. In 1996, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reported 858 militia groups with up to 50,000 active members. The 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted focus to global threats and led to a dormant period for militias. But domestic extremists such as the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Bois, the Three Percenters, and the Oath Keepers have reinvigorated the movement – aided in large part by digital platforms. In 2020, according to research by The Washington Post, the number of domestic terrorism incidents in the United States had doubled from what it was in 1995.

Washington, DC: Digital Citizens Alliance, 2021. 56p.

By Lee Bebout

Historically, ideas of whiteness and Americanness have been built on the backs of racialized communities. The legacy of anti-Mexican stereotypes stretches back to the early nineteenth century when Anglo-American settlers first came into regular contact with Mexico and Mexicans. The images of the Mexican Other as lawless, exotic, or non-industrious continue to circulate today within US popular and political culture. Through keen analysis of music, film, literature, and US politics, Whiteness on the Border demonstrates how contemporary representations of Mexicans and Chicano/as are pushed further to foster the idea of whiteness as Americanness.

Illustrating how the ideologies, stories, and images of racial hierarchy align with and support those of fervent US nationalism, Lee Bebout maps the relationship between whiteness and American exceptionalism. He examines how renderings of the Mexican Other have expressed white fear, and formed a besieged solidarity in anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. Moreover, Whiteness on the Border elucidates how seemingly positive representations of Mexico and Chicano/as are actually used to reinforce investments in white American goodness and obscure systems of racial inequality. Whiteness on the Border pushes readers to consider how the racial logic of the past continues to thrive in the present.

New York: New York University Press, 2016. 288p.

By Evelyn A. Schlatter

During the last third of the twentieth century, white supremacists moved, both literally and in the collective imagination, from midnight rides through Mississippi to broadband-wired cabins in Montana. But while rural Montana may be on the geographical fringe of the country, white supremacist groups were not pushed there, and they are far from “fringe elements” of society, as many Americans would like to believe. Evelyn Schlatter’s startling analysis describes how many of the new white supremacist groups in the West have co-opted the region’s mythology and environment based on longstanding beliefs about American character and Manifest Destiny to shape an organic, home-grown movement. Dissatisfied with the urbanized, culturally progressive coasts, disenfranchised by affirmative action and immigration, white supremacists have found new hope in the old ideal of the West as a land of opportunity waiting to be settled by self-reliant traditional families. Some even envision the region as a potential white homeland. Groups such as Aryan Nations, The Order, and Posse Comitatus use controversial issues such as affirmative action, anti-Semitism, immigration, and religion to create sympathy for their extremist views among mainstream whites―while offering a “solution” in the popular conception of the West as a place of freedom, opportunity, and escape from modern society. Aryan Cowboys exposes the exclusionist message of this “American” ideal, while documenting its dangerous appeal.

Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2006. 268p.

By Philip Lamy

The Oklahoma bombers, the Sons of Gestapo, the Branch Davidians, and the Unabomber are, as Philip Lamy astutely demonstrates, extreme examples of burgeoning strains within society. "Ruby Ridge" and "Waco" have become rallying cries of a growing number of average Americans who feel disenfranchised and forgotten. Members of militia movements and white supremacists, whom Lamy interviewed for this book, have tapped into their reservoir of discontent and are channeling it for their own aims. As Lamy points out, rugged individualists and utopian groups have always dotted the American landscape. What is alarming, however, is the misuse of the Christian apocalypse to promote a religion that fans the flames of hate, preaching the destruction of minorities - including Jews, blacks, and immigrants - in a whirlwind showdown

New York: Springer, 1996. 295p.

By Randy Borum , David Verhaagen

Highly practical and accessible, this is an indispensable resource for any mental health practitioner working with youth at risk for violent behavior. Presented is a comprehensive framework for evaluating juveniles in the justice system or those whose behavior in school, therapy sessions, or other contexts raises concern about violence. Detailed case examples illustrate the authors' scientifically grounded approach to selecting appropriate instruments, analyzing and communicating assessment results, and designing effective interventions. Special problems addressed include bullying, sexual aggression, firesetting, and homicide. The book also examines the development of aggressive conduct problems and their connections to other emotional and behavioral disorders.

New York: The Guilford Press, 2006. 241p.