Tina Wilchen Christensen A Question of Participation – Disengagement from the Extremist Right A case study from Sweden PhD dissertation The PhD program Social Psychology of Everyday Life Department of Psychology and Educational Studies Roskilde University October 2015 Tina Wilchen Christensen A Question of Participation – Disengagement from the Extremist Right. A case study from Sweden A publication in the series: PhD dissertations from the PhD program Social Psychology of Everyday Life, Roskilde University 1st Edition 2015 © The author, 2015 Cover: Vibeke Lihn Typeset: The author Print: Kopicentralen, Roskilde University, Denmark ISBN: 978-87-91387-88-3 Published by: The PhD program Social Psychology of Everyday Life Roskilde University Department of Psychology and Educational Studies Building 30C.2 P.O. Box 260 DK-4000 Roskilde Denmark Tlf: + 45 46 74 26 39 Email: [email protected] http://www.ruc.dk/en/research/phd-programme/doctoral-schools-and-phd- programmes-at-ru/doctoral-school-of-lifelong-learning-and-social-psychology-of- everyday-life/ All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 2 Preface This dissertation has been developed in the PhD program “Social Psychology of Everyday Life”. As an original piece of work it is engaged in research prob- lems, interests and unique ways of developing knowledge and insight. It also contributes to the development of a new emerging field of psychological re- search: the social psychology of everyday life. Research in the PhD program “Social Psychology of Everyday Life” investigates the everyday life of human subjects in their cultural and societal relations. The program builds on trans- disciplinary developments of theory, knowledge and methodology rooted in research problems of social life and connected to the everyday life of people. In this way the program is distinguished by a problem-orientated and transdis- ciplinary approach to social psychology in a broad sense. Tina Wilchen Christensen has written an exceptional Ph.D. dissertation about exit strategies for the disengagement of participants on the extremist right. The dissertation consists of an introduction and six articles. In the in- troduction we get a theoretical and methodological introduction to the work. The author is working within a neo-Vygotskian approach. We also find an his- torical overview over right-wing extremism, and an overview over programs in Scandinavia and Germany and programs targeting Islamic extremists in Singa- pore, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The articles are about the author's study of the social work with former extremists in "Fryshuset" in Stockholm, Sweden. Tina Wilchen Christensen has participated in the activities of the program, ob- served and interviewed social workers, coaches, who are former right wingers, and participants in the program. The first two articles are about methodologi- cal issues in the study, and the third article analyses how former neo-nazis to- gether with other staff at Fryshuset developed the EXIT program. The fourth article is about the mentor mentee relation as a deliberate practice. The fifth article is about how social interaction in the regi of "Fryshuset" leads the sub- ject to reinterpret himself and his world view. The last article demonstrates how the former right-wing extremists are in a continued process of self- transformation and social repositioning. The organization of the introduction, the papers, and the ensuing conclusion makes the dissertation appear as a co- herent dissertation. Tina Wilchen Christensen's work is one of a kind. Her work is based on a thorough insight into the right wing extremism. In the debate about exit pro- grams it gives arguments for close everyday work with right wingers who want 3 to exit their circles. The author's work stresses the importance of the right wingers' motivation for change, and demonstrates that by changing their eve- ryday activities participants change their life and the implicit political under- standings in it. It is also an important point, that the exit never stops but is a constant process of self-transformation and social re-positioning even after participation in the exit program. With her work, Tina Wilchen Christensen has contributed to knowledge necessary for disengagement programs for ex- tremists and gang members, and from many sides there has already been shown interest in her work. Erik Axel, Peter Hervik Roskilde University, PhD program “Social Psychology of Everyday Life” October 2015 4 Contents The articles.................................................................................................................... 7 Part 1 ........................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 11 The presentation of the articles and the sub-questions .................................. 17 Personal motivation.............................................................................................. 19 Outline of the thesis ............................................................................................. 20 Fryshuset and EXIT - a normative frame for human development ............ 22 The theoretical landscape and my position in it .............................................. 27 Methods .................................................................................................................. 30 Theory .................................................................................................................... 41 Part 2 ........................................................................................................................... 51 Common denominators in right-wing extremism, the White Power Movement and neo-Nazism................................................................................ 51 Terrorist organisations, neo-Nazi groups or racist-oriented youth groups as a scene for participation....................................................................................... 54 Eva, Olav, Erik, Joachim and Sandra - The informants and their involvement ........................................................................................................... 58 Part 3 ........................................................................................................................... 63 Radicalisation - a processual, contextual and relative term ............................ 63 Disengagement, deradicalisation - and circumstances motivating individuals to disengage and/or deradicalise ........................................................................ 71 Factors that help or hinder disengagement ...................................................... 73 Part 4 ........................................................................................................................... 76 Exit programmes targeting right-wing extremists in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany ....................................................................................... 76 EXIT programmes targeting Islamic extremists in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Singapore ................................................................................................................ 89 Can one programme learn from the next? The consequence of social and cultural-historical differences involved in diverse programmes .................... 97 Deradicalisation - ideology, social needs or embodied knowledge - what to target? .................................................................................................................... 101 Article 1: To Study the Meaning of Social Interaction for Former Right Wing Extremists wanting to Disengage: Doing Participant Observation and Qualitative Interviews ............................................................................................. 126 5 Article 2: The Challenge of Researching neo-Nazis Struggling to Leave the White Power Movement ........................................................................................ 141 Article 3: ’How Extremist Experiences become Valuable Know- ledge in EXIT Programmes’ ................................................................................................. 162 Article 4: When Good Intentions are Not Enough - A Successful Mentor- Mentee Relation Requires a Deliberate Practice ................................................. 196 Article 5: Adding a Grey Tone to a Black and White World View – How Role Models and Social Encouragement can lead Former Right-Wing Extremists to Transform Their Identity ....................................................................................... 221 Article 6: The Continuous Struggle of Becoming… Somebody – Former Right-Wing Extremists' continued Process of Self-transformation and Social Re-positioning after an Exit Programme ............................................................. 251 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 277 Dansk resumé ........................................................................................................... 295 English abstract .......................................................................................................