Routledge Handbook of Non-violent Extremism : Groups, Perspectives and New Debates

This Handbook provides the first in-depth analysis of non-violent extremism across different ideologies and geographic centres, a topic overshadowed until now by the political and academic focus on violent and jihadi extremism in the Global North.

Whilst acknowledging the potentiality of non-violent extremism as a precursor to terrorism, this Handbook argues that non-violent extremism ought to be considered a stand-alone area of study. Focusing on Islamist, Buddhist, Hindu, far-right, far-left, environmentalist and feminist manifestations, the Handbook discusses the ideological foundation of their ‘war on ideas’ against the prevailing socio-political and cultural systems in which they operate, and provides an empirical examination of their main claims and perspectives. This is supplemented by a truly global overview of non-violent extremist groups not only in Europe and the United States, but also in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Middle East. The Handbook thus answers a call to decolonise knowledge that is especially prescient given both the complicity of non-violent extremists with authoritarian states and the dynamic of oppression towards more progressive groups in the Global South.

The Handbook will appeal to those studying extremism, radicalisation and terrorism. It intersects several relevant disciplines, including social movement studies, political science, criminology, Islamic studies and anthropology.

Elisa Orofino is Academic Lead for Research on Extremism and Counter-Terrorism at the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region, Anglia Ruskin University, UK. She has published extensively on extremism, vocal extremist groups, radicalisation, Muslims in the West and social movements. Her publications encompass journal articles, book chapters, edited books and monographs, including Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Caliphate (Routledge, 2021).

William Allchorn is Visiting Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Richmond, the American International University in London, and Interim Director of the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right. He is an expert on anti-Islamic radical right social movements in the United Kingdom and has most recently advised the UK, US and Australian governments on their approaches to radical right extremism. His first book, Anti-Islamic Protest in the UK: Policy Responses to the Far Right, was published by Routledge in 2018, and his second book, Moving beyond Islamist Extremism: Assessing Counter Narrative Responses to the Global Far Right, was published in February 2022.