Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between economic variables, social integration and susceptibility to extremism in Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. By analysing 415 interviews conducted with young people, activists and practitioners between 2021 and 2023, we have discerned patterns in the influence of economic conditions on radicalisation. We found that nationalist ideologies are associated with economic concerns, particularly those related to globalisation and migration, and that perceived relative deprivation, rather than absolute conditions, mediate the influence of these factors. Comparable economic grievances foster conditions for both right-wing and Islamist radicalisation, indicating shared mechanisms. Nevertheless, national contexts–including welfare models and integration policies–affect the manifestations of these economic factors in actual radicalisation processes. This study elucidates the intricate relationship between economic conditions and extremist ideologies among European youth.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of Intercultural Studies |
| Early online date | 12 Oct 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 12 Oct 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Funding
This work was supported by H2020 Societal Challenges [grant number 959200].
Keywords
- comparative extremism studies
- Economic factors
- relative deprivation
- social integration
- youth extremism
- youth radicalisation