The causal role of ideology and Cultural Systems in radicalisation and de-radicalisation

Gordon Clubb, Shaun McDaid

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

The concepts of radicalisation and de-radicalisation are primarily defined by the assumption they make on there being a causal relationship between ideas and action. However, the causal role of ideas in informing behaviour has been strongly contested and has thus far eluded and undermined radicalisation and de-radicalisation conceptually and practically. The following article provides a theoretical basis for identifying the causal relationship between ideas and action through Margaret Archer’s critical realist ontology. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Northern Ireland, the article identifies processes of ideational causal reproduction and morphogenesis in the Provisional Irish Republican Army’s thinking on armed struggle during its transition away from armed violence. It argues the adoption of the Armalite and Ballot Box strategy in the 1980s introduced a contradiction in the movement’s ideology and the movement was pressured to address this contradiction through three corrective cycles throughout the peace-process, subsequently softening its position on armed struggle.
LanguageEnglish
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Critical Realism
Early online date1 Oct 2019
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Oct 2019

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Causal
Ideology
Radicalization
Informing
Being-there
Field Work
1980s
Republican
Ideational
Ontology
Army
Morphogenesis
Peace Process
Northern Ireland
Realist

Cite this

Clubb, Gordon ; McDaid, Shaun. / The causal role of ideology and Cultural Systems in radicalisation and de-radicalisation. In: Journal of Critical Realism. 2019.
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Clubb, G & McDaid, S 2019, 'The causal role of ideology and Cultural Systems in radicalisation and de-radicalisation', Journal of Critical Realism.

The causal role of ideology and Cultural Systems in radicalisation and de-radicalisation. / Clubb, Gordon; McDaid, Shaun.

In: Journal of Critical Realism, 01.10.2019.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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Clubb G, McDaid S. The causal role of ideology and Cultural Systems in radicalisation and de-radicalisation. Journal of Critical Realism. 2019 Oct 1.