Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARENAS (Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives)
Reporting period: 2023-05-01 to 2024-10-31
Social protest movements, the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine have triggered increased polarization of debates. They have challenged European democracies and thus fostered extreme narratives, with strong and numerous consequences for citizens, politics, and the democratic exercise. The ARENAS consortium focuses on the narratives as crucial nexuses, because “the battle of stories, not the debate on issues” (Cornog 2014) can determine the way that citizens react to political events. A strong antagonism is constructed between extremist and mainstream narratives, which is evident if we compare the narratives on the on-going war in Ukraine. Extremist narratives always reflect the complex intersection of spatial and temporal context where the narratives are constructed, circulated, consumed, and reproduced. They are characterized by their reliance on pathos and emotions, as well as the importance of violence in them: they tend to proliferate in historical periods characterized by social turmoil, and construct an alternative reality and promote negative emotions and behavioural patterns that run against mainstream and official narratives. In social media and through the connections between social and “traditional” media, extremist narratives are naturalized and have an impact on mainstream narratives. ARENAS will provide concrete responses to the consequences of these extremist narratives by: i) measuring and mapping the spread of extremist narratives; ii) defining remediation actions for individuals and groups affected by extremist narratives; iii) providing educational and institutional propositions to anticipate future challenges in terms of the construction and circulation of extremist narratives; and iv) identifying multi-level policy recommendations to help counter extremist narratives, both at the institutional and political level, and at the level of associations and citizens.
Through 12 members across Europe, the ARENAS project overall work is divided in eight packages; four of them are dedicated to its direct action and development.
The second one will focus on the characterisation and detection of extremist narratives, the third one on the circulation of extremist narratives, the fourth one on the influence and spread of extremist narratives, and the fifth one on the mediations and remediations for extremist narratives. They respectively aim to answer the next questions: what is an extremist narrative and how can citizens detect it? By which means are those extremist narratives able to navigate between people and countries? How are they spread and how citizens can be impacted by them? How can we mitigate the coming of new extremist narratives and reduce the consequences of past ones? That is why ARENAS stands for Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives.
The four other work packages are dedicated to internal management, diffusion of results and monitoring of ethic and rules respects.
A 48-month planning was established before the project launching, each work package is enriched with particular tasks and interconnected with other work packages. All researchers across various Europeans entities works in synergy to evolve simultaneously and be actor of the project growth.
Chronologically, a first phase would be to collect and analyse specific data, a second one to understand where they come from and how they keep being developed, a third one to imagine and suggest/implement concrete way to avoid, tackle and protect oneself against them.
The second one will focus on the characterisation and detection of extremist narratives, the third one on the circulation of extremist narratives, the fourth one on the influence and spread of extremist narratives, and the fifth one on the mediations and remediations for extremist narratives. They respectively aim to answer the next questions: what is an extremist narrative and how can citizens detect it? By which means are those extremist narratives able to navigate between people and countries? How are they spread and how citizens can be impacted by them? How can we mitigate the coming of new extremist narratives and reduce the consequences of past ones? That is why ARENAS stands for Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives.
The four other work packages are dedicated to internal management, diffusion of results and monitoring of ethic and rules respects.
A 48-month planning was established before the project launching, each work package is enriched with particular tasks and interconnected with other work packages. All researchers across various Europeans entities works in synergy to evolve simultaneously and be actor of the project growth.
Chronologically, a first phase would be to collect and analyse specific data, a second one to understand where they come from and how they keep being developed, a third one to imagine and suggest/implement concrete way to avoid, tackle and protect oneself against them.
The result of this project would be to ensure European governments to anticipate extremist narratives and to avoid them, but allow European citizens to recognize one and be better prepared against them when it comes. The project is dedicated to extremist narratives, their influence and will formulate multi-level policy recommendations. In line with the topic, we will contribute to all expected outcomes and reach out six different target groups’ categories: A) Academic and research Community; B) Public relation Stakeholders; C) Community Cohesion Stakeholders; D) Policy and Decision Makers; E) Youth Educational stakeholders; F) Citizens and wider society. ARENAS will make direct and substantial contribution The recommendations and the remediation tools that the ARENAS project will develop have a high replication potential in the several countries across Europe.
The involvement of civil society stakeholders in the construction of educational tools is an essential step for the construction of the tools and their long-term acceptance, appropriation, and adoption. The objective is to establish a constructive dialogue and active partnerships and collaborations, pointing beyond the project lifetime.
Taking into account young audiences confronted with extremist narratives will also ensure the long-term impact of the project, as the content disseminated, the innovative educational materials, and the results on the use of social media, will create a virtuous circle through the reduction of the influence of extremist narratives on future generations.
The involvement of civil society stakeholders in the construction of educational tools is an essential step for the construction of the tools and their long-term acceptance, appropriation, and adoption. The objective is to establish a constructive dialogue and active partnerships and collaborations, pointing beyond the project lifetime.
Taking into account young audiences confronted with extremist narratives will also ensure the long-term impact of the project, as the content disseminated, the innovative educational materials, and the results on the use of social media, will create a virtuous circle through the reduction of the influence of extremist narratives on future generations.