Book Tip No. 43 (2020): JULIA EBNER: RADICALIZATION MACHINES. HOW EXTREMISTS USE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MANIPULATE US
Insights into a foreign world: Live extremism research.
A review of Julia Ebner: Radicalization machines. How extremists use new technologies and manipulate us.
Berlin 2019.
By Hans-Christian Riekhof
Jan Böhmermann about the book by Julia Ebner: “Exciting, enlightening, shocking.”
These three terms quite accurately describe what the reader can expect. It’s about a world that many of us might find quite alien: the media and groups in which extremists pursue their goals. It’s about groupings and platforms, most of which I had never heard of before and which I actually have little desire to get to know better.
Julia Ebner has managed to infiltrate twelve of these groups and write a detailed report of her experiences, and we accompany her on her journey to hackers, trolls, conspirators and fundamentalists. Günter Wallraff’s undercover work at the BILD newspaper was rather child’s play in comparison.
Live extremism research
This form of extremism research is of course a highly exciting and also very courageous project. Social researchers might call it participant observation: a report from the everyday practice and thought world of radical groups, but always closely related to further studies, reports and documentation by Julia Ebner.
The script of radicalization
In the course of her investigations, the author deciphers the script of radicalization: recruitment is followed by socialization and communication, networking, mobilization and attack. It becomes very clear that clear patterns and recurring processes are recognizable. The degree of professionalization and the openness to new technologies and social media to use them for their own purposes are remarkable.
What to do?
Julia Ebner draws a sober balance. She sees very clearly that extremists are ready to use the latest technologies very quickly for their goals, and in a very consistent way. She urges us to look much more closely at how technological development and some consequences of social change are intertwined and can be used for radicalization strategies. And she also shows with some interesting examples how we ourselves can use the new technologies to launch effective counter-strategies. But that will not be enough: there is a clear need for action.
