Ulteriori informazioni
This book combines well-known theoretical elements of various disciplines to form a broad picture of the role of ideologies in conflicts, in particular "the supply and demand side" of the ideological market: namely, why individuals choose particular ideologies and how radical groups, and organizations use them to address individuals' specific needs for the purpose of recruitment. This allows better understanding of the socio-psychological dynamics of social conflicts--why adopting particular ideologies is reasonable given certain socio-economic conditions; why individuals stick to destructive ideologies; and why they embrace major personal risks to join radical groups and advance the goals of these groups.
Sommario
- 1. Introduction and Motivation
- 2. From Individual Psychological Needs to Social and Political Conflicts: The General Framework
- Part I: Fundamental Human Needs, Threats, and Need Deprivation
- 3. Fundamental (Psychological) Human Needs
- 4. Relational Needs and Need Deprivation
- 5. Agency Needs and Need Deprivation
- Part II: Ideologies and Need Reconciliation
- 6. Belief Systems and Ideologies as Psychological Need Reconciliation
- 7. Right, Left, and Religious Ideologies - their Need-Serving Capacities and Potential for Conflicts
- Part III: Extremist Organizations, Ideologies, and Real Conflict
- 8. Extremist Organizations - their Network and Structure
- 9. Extremist Organizations - their Recruitment and Mobilization Strategies
- 10. Real-Life Cases and the Link between Needs, Ideology and Conflict
Info autore
Veronika Muller is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Thomas Gries is Professor holding the Chair of International Growth and Business Cycle Theory and Co-Director of the Center of International Economics at Paderborn University.
Riassunto
This book combines theoretical and empirical research across various academic disciplines including economics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and political science to describe why individuals adopt political ideologies and how this choice can potentially exacerbate conflict and violence. Ideology is particularly important to conflict. Data on intra- and international conflict shows that the number of ideologically driven conflicts has increased tremendously in recent decades. Although some researchers started to investigate this link extensively, they struggle to find holistic explanations.
The book illustrates that ideologies are not only capable of shaping conflictual behavior or mobilizing political actors, but also of addressing human needs, desires, and preferences. Hence, the authors compile valuable insights from various academic disciplines to explain how individuals adopt ideologies that match their underlying needs and preferences; that ideologies have the capacity to reconcile deprived psychological human needs; and that radical groups and organizations use ideologies to recruit individuals and pursue their objectives. Real-life cases are included to better understand these relationships and to apply the theoretical background to real-world situations.
