Extremism and the Assault on Truth, Social Justice, and Democracy

Dear Colleagues,

From the Q-Anon conspiracy theorists and MAGA loyalists who sought to disenfranchise millions of legally cast ballots in the 2020 U.S. election and mounted an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to neo-fascist political parties and militias who have used fear of “White genocide” to stoke violent anti-immigrant sentiment across Europe, the Western world is under siege by extremist ideologies that threaten the very fabric of society. Public policy in the United States is bending to the will and interests of such extremists as states pass voting laws tailored to disenfranchise marginalized groups, entrench the legacy of systemic racism, and violate the bodily autonomy of women. Hate crimes, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Q-Anon has infiltrated Congress. Meanwhile in Europe, political leaders are increasingly engaging in anti-LGBTQ hate speech. In Ukraine, the so-called “National Militia” is responsible for numerous incidents of violence, including LGBTQ hate crimes, each year—often with the implicit approval of governmental authorities. Refugees from Latin America and the Middle East flee from violence in their home countries only to be victimized further by the governments and citizens of the nations in which they seek sanctuary. Misinformation surrounding elections and deceitful, hate-filled propaganda is being used to further marginalize vulnerable groups across the Western world.

This special issue is dedicated to studying the causes (e.g., rising economic inequality) and the effects (e.g., changes in election trends, public policy, and the experiences of marginalized groups) of extremism in Western nations. Articles may approach these topics from the perspectives of psychology, sociology, political science, economics, criminal justice, communications, or the intersection of one or more social science disciplines. Strong preference will be given to articles fully committed to open-science practices (i.e., those pre-registering their hypotheses, methodology, and analysis plans in open-science forums). Manuscripts adhering to such practices, using methods and analyses that are fully appropriate for studying the subject matter, and without flaws in design will be accepted even if such manuscripts are replications or conceptual replications of previously established findings. Manuscripts presenting more novel findings, while replicating their own effects in multiple studies and adhering to open-science practices will be given the greatest preference. Authors who cannot complete data collection before the submission deadline may submit registered reports which may be conditionally accepted prior to data collection based on the strength of literature review, methodology, and planned analyses.

Article topics may include examinations of:

• Factors motivating the rise of extremism;
• Attitudes or behaviors of those holding extremist views;
• The influence of extremism on elections and public policy;
• The proliferation of extremist propaganda;
• How the physical, psychological, or economic well-being or legal status of marginalized groups is affected by extremist movements;
• What marginalized groups (and their allies) do to cope with, escape, or fight back against the effects of extremism;
• The infiltration of extremist viewpoints into mainstream media.

Dr. Andrew Franks
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• extremism
• elections
• public policy
• extremist propaganda
• extremist movements
• attitudes or behaviors of marginalized groups