Roni Yadlin & Julio Solís Arce, "Radicalization, Violent Extremism, and the Profession of Arms"
Relative to its share in the population, a disproportionate number of individuals arrested in connection with the January 6th 2021 attack on the United States Capitol had military experience. While this level of participation brought the issue of extremism among servicemembers to the public’s attention, the problem is not new. Servicemembers featured prominently in both the post-Vietnam War White Power movement and the anti-government militia movements of the 1990s. The number of individuals with military experience committing acts of ideologically motivated extremism more than doubled between the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st. Most of the existing research and policy regarding extremism in the military community focuses on preventing the recruitment and accession of individuals who already espouse extremism beliefs and ensuring that, upon leaving the service, veterans do not radicalize to the point of committing extremist acts. There is, however, little exploration of ways in which the military and profession of arms itself might make servicemembers more prone to radicalization or extremism. Another failure of research into military extremism is its conception of the military as a single homogenous entity; it does not consider whether servicemembers from different branches or career fields may have different propensities or pathways to radicalization.
The American Politics Research Workshop (Gov 3004) presents an opportunity for graduate students and Harvard faculty to present and receive feedback on their current research. The workshop highlights key theoretical and empirical findings from Harvard affiliates on topics related to American politics.
All interested Harvard affiliates are invited to attend.
LOCATION:CGIS Knafel, room K354 or Online via Zoom STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20231010T160000Z DTEND:20231010T180000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR