Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OppAttune (Countering Oppositional Political Extremism through Attuned Dialogue: Track, Attune, Limit.)
Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31
Democracies and the European project are under threat and citizens are losing faith in democratic institutions. Existential insecurities arising out of economic and refugee-related crises, exacerbated by the recent Covid-19 pandemic are creating re-bordering (e.g. xenophobic-nationalism) and re-shoring e.g. (the localisation of production). The OppAttune project brings together 17 partners from across the European Union and its peripheries working between NGOs, think tanks and universities. It is designed in three phases to track, attune and then limit extreme narratives.
Within OppAttune in order to make sense of re-bordering, re-shoring and political insecurities, we propose ordinary citizens become susceptible to xenophobic nationalism, conspiracy theories and loss of faith in democratic institutions through the subtle process of Everyday Extremism. Everyday Extremism, approaches extremism as not related to marginalised individuals or specific community groups but instead a process which affects us all.
Oppositional worldviews, narratives and dissensus within public debate are all vital to a functioning democracy. However destructive polarisation of oppositional us/them logic is at the core of the rise of extremist narratives. Disruptive actors polarise oppositional logic using disinformation, emotions, hot cognitions, conspiracy theories and mistrust to create new forms of direct action. This direct action is understood to many as direct democracy. This direct action cultivates unlikely coalitions to form Everyday Extremism.
Everyday Extremism can be understood as relating to two related processes the normalisation and mainstreaming of extremism, events, actions and attitudes. In parallel, the process of everyday actions such as attending political events, posting on social media or engaging in group chats escalating into the communication of hostility to other people, groups or parties. OppAttune has three objectives - tracking, through media, grounded anthropological studies and psychological studies using dialogical techniques and scaling the evolution of extreme narratives. Attuning through the development of an innovative Attunement Model and finally it will use this Attunement Model in eight country contexts to limit polarization and the rise of extreme narratives. OppAttune has identified four impact pathways - public dialogue, politicians and policymakers, young people and media and localities. OppAttune aims to revitalise trust in key democratic institutions. It will provide micro, meso and macro level evidence-based recommendations and strategies designed to counter the potential of extreme narratives.
Within OppAttune in order to make sense of re-bordering, re-shoring and political insecurities, we propose ordinary citizens become susceptible to xenophobic nationalism, conspiracy theories and loss of faith in democratic institutions through the subtle process of Everyday Extremism. Everyday Extremism, approaches extremism as not related to marginalised individuals or specific community groups but instead a process which affects us all.
Oppositional worldviews, narratives and dissensus within public debate are all vital to a functioning democracy. However destructive polarisation of oppositional us/them logic is at the core of the rise of extremist narratives. Disruptive actors polarise oppositional logic using disinformation, emotions, hot cognitions, conspiracy theories and mistrust to create new forms of direct action. This direct action is understood to many as direct democracy. This direct action cultivates unlikely coalitions to form Everyday Extremism.
Everyday Extremism can be understood as relating to two related processes the normalisation and mainstreaming of extremism, events, actions and attitudes. In parallel, the process of everyday actions such as attending political events, posting on social media or engaging in group chats escalating into the communication of hostility to other people, groups or parties. OppAttune has three objectives - tracking, through media, grounded anthropological studies and psychological studies using dialogical techniques and scaling the evolution of extreme narratives. Attuning through the development of an innovative Attunement Model and finally it will use this Attunement Model in eight country contexts to limit polarization and the rise of extreme narratives. OppAttune has identified four impact pathways - public dialogue, politicians and policymakers, young people and media and localities. OppAttune aims to revitalise trust in key democratic institutions. It will provide micro, meso and macro level evidence-based recommendations and strategies designed to counter the potential of extreme narratives.
The first year has been focused on gathering tracking data by WP4, WP5 and scaling in WP6. A key achievement is the development of the Everyday Extremism Scale ahead of its deliverable date.
WP2 which brings together historians with social scientists has developed a regulatory-rights framework and articulated 18 case studies which can be accessed on their user-friendly webpage entitled Human Rights and Public Regulation (D2.3) – this website is aimed at policymakers and grass roots organisation and relates to Impact Pathway 3 – Policy Impact and represents the second key achievement.
WP3: Re-Shoring, Protectionism & Governance, as a third key achievement, successfully obtained the CEDEFOP data set and is beginning to understand factors which influence skills development cross-country labour transitions. WP4: Media, Machines & Mobilisation aims to identify and understand contemporary extremist narratives it has delivered an innovative visualisation report of merging extremist narratives across Europe – a fourth achievement. WP5: Extremism and Living Democracies, as a fifth and final key achievement delivered D5.1 Framework paper on emergence of opposition drivers. The framework paper identifies four levels of drivers of oppositional hostile narratives – social psychological, cultural and moral, social and political and finally material.
WP2 which brings together historians with social scientists has developed a regulatory-rights framework and articulated 18 case studies which can be accessed on their user-friendly webpage entitled Human Rights and Public Regulation (D2.3) – this website is aimed at policymakers and grass roots organisation and relates to Impact Pathway 3 – Policy Impact and represents the second key achievement.
WP3: Re-Shoring, Protectionism & Governance, as a third key achievement, successfully obtained the CEDEFOP data set and is beginning to understand factors which influence skills development cross-country labour transitions. WP4: Media, Machines & Mobilisation aims to identify and understand contemporary extremist narratives it has delivered an innovative visualisation report of merging extremist narratives across Europe – a fourth achievement. WP5: Extremism and Living Democracies, as a fifth and final key achievement delivered D5.1 Framework paper on emergence of opposition drivers. The framework paper identifies four levels of drivers of oppositional hostile narratives – social psychological, cultural and moral, social and political and finally material.
OppAttune has moved beyond the state of the art in developing the Everyday Extremism concept. In terms of policy impact and theoretical developments WP2 has moved beyond the state by reconsidering the opposition between rights and regulatory frameworks in which rights are often characterized as impinging upon individual and group freedoms. OppAttune shows how rights claims are not made as abstract demands but have specific content depending on context and belonging.
OppAttune has mapped existing extremist narratives in Austria, Bulgaria, and Sweden, drawing on previous research and secondary data sources. The WP4 team developed new techniques to map the types of extremist narratives prevalent in Europe today and identified their circulation within the digital mainstream. This report also uncovered emerging extremist narratives around climate change and gender, suggesting these topics are gaining prominence in conspiracy theories across Europe.
Preliminary analyses of diverse case studies by WP5 across local ecologies in Europe highlights the discrepancy between the neatness of analytic levels and disciplinary boundaries, on the one hand, and the ‘messy’ realties of opposition drivers in our everyday encounters with others. WP6 studies looking into psychological drivers goes beyond the state of the art by devising the Everyday Extremism scale using a procedure of Likert and Thurstone scaling techniques. The technique used here overcomes a limitation associated with single-point statistical estimates. The Everyday Extremism Scale is the first measure of its kind.
OppAttune has mapped existing extremist narratives in Austria, Bulgaria, and Sweden, drawing on previous research and secondary data sources. The WP4 team developed new techniques to map the types of extremist narratives prevalent in Europe today and identified their circulation within the digital mainstream. This report also uncovered emerging extremist narratives around climate change and gender, suggesting these topics are gaining prominence in conspiracy theories across Europe.
Preliminary analyses of diverse case studies by WP5 across local ecologies in Europe highlights the discrepancy between the neatness of analytic levels and disciplinary boundaries, on the one hand, and the ‘messy’ realties of opposition drivers in our everyday encounters with others. WP6 studies looking into psychological drivers goes beyond the state of the art by devising the Everyday Extremism scale using a procedure of Likert and Thurstone scaling techniques. The technique used here overcomes a limitation associated with single-point statistical estimates. The Everyday Extremism Scale is the first measure of its kind.