Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 1 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter.
THE CATALYST PUBLIC POLICY CHAMPIONS PROGRAMME |
| The Catalyst Public Policy Champions Programme is an intensive, international fully-funded executive-style training programme designed to strengthen policy responses to the growing links between online gender-based violence and violent extremism. Led by the Christchurch Call Foundation, and delivered by the Hertie School in partnership with the VOX-Pol Institute, the programme equips policymakers and practitioners with the evidence, skills, and cross-sectoral networks needed to design and implement effective, context-sensitive responses to hybrid online harms, terrorism, and radicalisation dynamics. Applications open 19 January – keep your eyes on Hertie School Executive Education’s website/VOX-Pol’s LinkedIn for more information! |
TASM-VOX-Pol SPECIAL ISSUE
UPCOMING EVENTS
There is an upcoming C-REX/CANSES webinar on Researching the far right: Methods and Ethics? VOX-Pol member Ashley A. Mattheis will present on how to negotiate the ethics of extremism research online: The Digital as Field Site: Negotiating the Ethics of Extremism Research Online – C-REX – Center for Research on Extremism. Time and place: Jan. 15, 2026 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CET |
VOX-Pol RESEARCH PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITY
| Ashton Kingdon recently received funding to research emerging security threats at the intersection of AI infrastructure, climate-related resource conflicts, and violent extremism The AI-Climate-Conflict Nexus: Understanding New Security Challenges As AI infrastructure expands rapidly into water-stressed and climate-vulnerable regions, we are seeing concerning new dynamics emerge. This interdisciplinary project examines how: Data centre water consumption in climate-stressed regions is triggering community mobilisation and resource-based conflicts Environmental justice grievances related to AI infrastructure may fuel radicalisation, and the extent to which data centres may become targets for terrorism or cybercrime Extremist ideologies (eco-fascism, fossil fascism, anti-technology accelerationism, climate determinism) weaponise AI’s environmental footprint in propaganda and recruitment Data centres face security vulnerabilities from physical attacks, insider threats, and cyber-physical targeting Resource conflicts in Indigenous territories and agricultural communities create environments conducive to violence How You Can Participate Ashton is seeking experts and practitioners across diverse fields to participate in: Three online workshops (1.5 hours each, March-May 2026) exploring extremist narratives, threat assessment, and sustainable governance One in-person Innovation Forum (2 days, June 2026, University of Southampton) for intensive collaborative policy development Semi-structured interviews (30-60 minutes) for those unable to attend workshops All participation is voluntary and confidential, following modified Chatham House rules. The project aims to develop evidence-based prevention strategies and governance recommendations. If you are interested in participating in a workshop or interview as part of this project, please reach out to Ashton directly and/or pass her details on to colleagues that may be interested. |
PhD OPPORTUNITY
| Victimhood Identities and Radicalisation Pathways: Psychological and Informational Drivers of Extremism, Hate Speech, and Polarisation in Europe University of Southampton This interdisciplinary PhD explores how victimhood identities drive or prevent radicalisation, extremism, hate speech, and polarisation in Europe. Combining political psychology, criminology, and digital media analysis, this project investigates emotional and informational mechanisms across online communities to understand victimhood identities, grievance, resilience, and how societies can resist radicalising and polarisation narratives in digital spaces. Closing date: Saturday 31 January 2026 More information and how to apply can be found at this link. |
PUBLICATIONS AND EVENTS FROM VOX-Pol MEMBERS
| In December, Lisa Waldek and team published a new open access paper ‘Ethical Conundrums: hacked data in the study of far-right violent extremism‘ in the journal New Media & Society. This article presents a case study outlining the ethical debates that arose when considering the use of hacked data to examine online far-right violent extremism. Kye Allen has published two shorter pieces in December on the role of chatbots and extremism/radicalisation: ‘You Talkin’ to Me? Algorithmic Mirror and Chatbot Radicalisation’ and ‘Could Chatbots Seduce Us into Extremism?’. He was also interviewed about this topic by Jonathan Gibson at The Dispatch. Elizabeth Pearson attended the Echoes of Hate Conference in Ghent on December 15, presenting on Emergency Meeting 63: Extreme Misogyny, Andrew Tate, and the Stoking of Collapse. A paper of the same name was published in the conference book Echoes of Hate: Digital Communication, Populism, and the Regulation of Hate Speech. Please contact the author for a copy. Ryan Scrivens and Steven M. Chermak published an open access article on ‘Understanding the Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists: A Research Note‘, in the journal Perspectives on Terrorism. Gina Vale published an open access article titled ‘Exploited for the Cause?: The Potential for a Cross-Harm Approach to Children’s Online Engagement in Terrorism‘, in the journal The British Journal of Criminology. David Wells is the lead author of an OSCE’s Policy Brief on ‘Ethical Use of Generative AI in the Context of Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalisation That Lead to Terrorism’. The Brief is available here. Carol Winkler coauthored two publications. Together with Weeda Mehran and Anthony Lemieux she published a paper on ‘Strategic Drivers of Military Proto-state Multimodal Messaging: The Case of ISIS and the Taliban.’ in Journal of Behavior Science of Terrorism and Political Aggression. Together with first author Katherine Kountz and team she published ‘Resistance is Far-Right from Futile: Deplatforming, Resilience, and Persistent Presence Across Platforms as Drivers of Accelerationist Politics.’ in the journal Political Communication. Heidi Schulze and her colleagues published a paper titled ‘The Telegram COVID-19 Protest Dataset 2020-2022’ in the journal Computational Communication Research. The paper presents a curated dataset on political movements and extremist actors connected to COVID-19-related protest communication. For the dataset, see: https://search.gesis.org/research_data/ZA8979 Emilia Lounela published an open access piece on ‘What makes an incel? An interview study of current and former incels‘ in the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism. |
RECENTLY ON THE VOX-Pol BLOG
| Recently published on the VOX-Pol Blog Misogyny as an Operational Strategy in India’s Digital Extremism, 7 January 2026, by Antara Chakraborthy Visits to Gore Sites Driven by Searches for Graphic Footage of Charlie Kirk’s Death, 24 December 2025, by Human Digital The Latest Far-Right Rift: Rejecting ‘Third Worldism’, 24 December 2025, by Kye Allen Highlights from the 2nd Annual Workshop of the Canadian Network for Research on Security, Extremism and Society, 17 December 2025, by Garth Davies and Mackenzie B. Hart The Human Cost of Countering Violent Extremism with Youth: The Importance of Reflective and Supportive Practice, 10 December 2025, by Sarah Stevenson and Steve Barracosa Are you interested in publishing an article with VOX-Pol? Read our Blog submission instructions here. |
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