Extremism is ... Reasons, manifestations, types and concept of extremism. Methods of struggle and prevention of extremism
The problem of extremism has affected many countries. The phenomenon of discriminatory violence has a long and tragic history. The colonial past of many states led to the emergence of mixed societies in which the color of a person's skin, national, religious or ethnic identity determined his legal status. But even today, among the factors that cause particular concern, there is a steady increase in crimes related to violence motivated by racial, religious, and national intolerance. The fight against extremism is very important. Because xenophobia and racism against foreigners often take on the scale of social phenomena, and a number of murders and cases of ill-treatment raise great concern over the growth of destructive aggression in society. Counteraction to extremism is one of the main tasks of any state. This is the guarantee of his safety.
The concept of "extremism"
This concept is closely related to extremes. Extremism is a commitment to ideology and politics to extreme positions in views and the choice of the same means to achieve certain goals. The term means in translation "ultimate", "critical", "incredible", "extreme". Extremism is a current that opposes existing communities, structures and institutions, trying to violate their stability, to eliminate them in order to achieve their goals. This is done primarily by force. Extremism is not only a disregard for generally accepted rules, norms, laws, but also a negative social phenomenon.
Characteristics of extremism
Simultaneous adherence to extreme actionsand views are possible in any sphere of public life. Each crime is also an extreme degree of antisocial behavior, an acute form of social conflict, a way out of the norm, but we do not call all criminality an extremism. Because these concepts are different. Extremism should be understood as a clearly defined phenomenon. Some researchers define extremism as attachment, devotion to extreme measures and views (usually in politics). They note that extremism manifests itself in various spheres of human life: politics, interethnic and interethnic relations, religious life, environmental sphere, art, music, literature, etc.
Who is an extremist?
The term "extremist" is often associated with a person,which uses and protects violence as opposed to the generally accepted norms of society. Sometimes people are called people who try to impose their will on the society with the help of force, but not like the government or the constitutional majority. There is also another opinion, according to which extremism is not simply and not always a current, which is identified with a violent factor. For example, an English researcher in his work notes that the policy of non-violent struggle (satyagraha) of Mahatma Gandhi in India is an example of a new type of extremism. So, extremism can be considered as a way of radical objection to not only legislative rules, but also social norms - established rules of behavior.
Youth extremism
Youthful extremism in Russia is a phenomenonrelatively new, in contrast to Britain, in which it appeared in the 50-60's of the XX century. This predetermines the insufficient level of development of this topic in the legal literature. In our opinion, there are a number of unsolved problems related to research and prevention of crimes of an extremist nature committed by young people within the group. Extremism in the youth environment is constantly gaining momentum. This, for example, such movements as skinheads, antifa.
Crime and extremism
Criminal extremism is an illegal,socially dangerous act of a person or a group of persons aimed at achieving their goals (goals), based on the basis of extreme ideological, political and other views. Following this understanding, it is quite reasonable to assert that virtually every crime is a manifestation of extremism. The criminality associated with the manifestation of its various forms can not be fully considered without exploring extremism as a negative social factor and its correlation with the mechanism of state power and social management.
Racial-nationalistic extremism
As social studies confirmIn fact, one of the common types is national extremism. As a rule, this is a manifestation of extreme views in the sphere and about the mutual coexistence of different ethnic groups and races. One of the components of the object of these offenses are precisely the ethnic groups in all their diversity, and not the nation, as often noted in journalistic, scientific and other sources. Extremism has been known to mankind since ancient times, since when power over the surrounding people began to bring material benefits and therefore became the subject of the aspirations of certain individuals. They tried to achieve the desired goal by any means. At the same time, they were not embarrassed by moral principles and barriers, generally accepted rules, traditions, interests of other people. The goal always and at all times justified the means, and the persons who aspired to the heights of power did not stop even before using the most cruel and barbaric measures, including destruction, open violence, and terrorism.
Historical reference
Extremism has existed sinceorganized society. At different periods, he appeared in different forms. In particular, in ancient Greece, extremism was presented in the form of intolerance towards other peoples. Thus, in the works of the famous ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, the use of the name "Barbara" (barbarus) or "barbarians" relative to neighboring peoples is observed. By this they showed disrespect to them. The Romans used this name to all peoples of non-Greek or non-Roman origin, but at the end of the Roman Empire, the word "barbarian" began to be used in the context of various Germanic tribes. The same trend was observed in ancient China, when the neighbors of the Middle Kingdom were perceived as wild and cruel tribes of foreigners. The latter were called "food" ("dwarfs" and "dogs") or "these" ("four barbarians").
Experts in the fields of sociology and jurisprudencebelieve that the causes of extremism lie in human psychology. It arose at the time of the formation of statehood. However, modern extremism in Russia is conditioned by many social, legal, political, religious, administrative, economic and other processes taking place in a certain geographical area during the last century. An analysis of the special literature on this subject indicates that in any state extremism has different social and criminological characteristics. In addition, extremism, like every social phenomenon, is characterized by historical volatility.
In fact, all the conspiracies and rebellions that are richboth domestic and world history were, from the point of view of the legislation in force at that time and the existing social structure, nothing more than the specific types of criminal groups that sought to achieve political goals. But at the same time there were cases of group spontaneous and impulsive outbursts of arbitrariness, vandalism and violence against the person, and there were also associations of criminal orientation. The opinion that organized crime (at least in its modern sense) did not take place in the twenties of the last century can hardly be considered correct. After all, historical studies indicate the presence of an extensive structure of criminal groups, for example in pre-revolutionary and civil war times in Odessa, and it is indicated that the activities of these criminal extremist groups had character and all signs of power (along with the governor and French occupation). Extremism and crime are related phenomena. Only criminals seek material gain or power, while extremists advocate political, religious or racial convictions, which also does not exclude striving for material gain.
Crime in the Soviet Union as the progenitor of extremist movements in Russia
During the twenties of the last century duringimplementation of the leadership of the Soviet Union, the so-called new economic policy (NEP), organized criminal groups operated mainly in the economic sphere. They carried out the cover of their activities under the guise of pseudo-cooperatives and other similar economic structures. Common criminality only restored its influence after tough measures taken by the authorities to end the aforementioned cessation of robbery and murder.
The collapse of economic change at the endThe 20s and during the 30s of the last century resumed the dominance of ordinary organized crime. The same period is characterized by the emergence of a criminal community of "thieves in law", and in science and journalism they express various assumptions regarding its formation - from a spontaneous occurrence to a deliberate creation by state security bodies in places of deprivation of liberty in order to provide a counterweight to possible associations of political prisoners . During the Second World War and in the postwar years there was a second surge in organized crime in the form of banditry. In scientific studies, in which it is indicated that organized crime is not a new phenomenon for society, it is said about its appearance in the 50s ... Military units were involved in the fight against gangs, special units were created in the internal affairs agencies to combat banditry that operated successfully until the mid-50s, when the level of banditry as a result of the harsh measures taken by the authorities was significantly reduced, and the units were eliminated.
Soon there were theses on the extinction of crimeunder socialism and the elimination of professional criminals and banditry in the USSR. The last postulates dominating in criminology of Soviet times actually hid the real gradual latentisation of organized crime of a common criminal orientation, the emergence of organized crime against the background of deformation of economic relations of economic crime, or, as scientists have long called it, "economic and self-serving" direction.
Youth movements in the USA and the USSR
In the 60s of the twentieth century A new youth movement has emerged in the United States, which is closely linked to musical groups. Extremism in the youth environment originates from this time. Members of the new movement are called hippies, or "children of flowers." In the late 70s - early 80s, a similar phenomenon occurs in the USSR. Hippies in the United States proved to be quite a viable force during the fight against retrogrades and conservatives. Unlike the American "flower children" who protested, fought the war that continued in Vietnam, the Soviet hippies fought against the communist repressive system. In opposition to the power system, Soviet youth created their own. Since the mid-70s, the hippie movement in the States has declined.
The youth movement in the USSR, in fact, became the ancestor of all subsequent youth trends, including extremist ones.
Post-Soviet time
The next wave of extremist organizedcrime was outlined in the territory of the post-Soviet space at the end of the twentieth century. due to known social upheavals and social transformations. This was largely due to such factors as the release of a significant number of prisoners, the destruction of old police structures, the small number and low professional competence of the new ones, the decline of the economic sphere, the devaluation of established social values, and the disorientation of society. Racket and banditry swept society. Along with this, various youth movements began to appear: anarchists, metallers, rappers, etc. In the national regions of the federation, religious and political extremism flourished with a terry color. The wars in Chechnya have further aggravated the situation. Religious-political extremism began to be represented by many Islamist terrorist groups. As a reaction of society to this, various nationalist extremist movements of a Slavic type began to emerge: skinheads, national bolsheviks, nationalists, etc. In addition to all this, the bandit and prison romance was mixed in with it. Some time later, the struggle against fascist extremism began to gain momentum in society. The “Antifa” movement appears. Also, there is a transformation of the fan organizations of football clubs into groups of "ultras". The ideology and principles of this movement were borrowed in Britain (as well as fans of almost all football clubs in the world). From the mid-90s, the expansion of gangster public structures began to acquire a bold character. Organized criminal groups have entered a period of rapid development. Good technical equipment and weapons, the establishment of international relations of the OPS and organized criminal groups made the police virtually uncompetitive with them. The causes of extremism and banditry of the 90s are associated with socio-economic, political and military upheavals. Such a large-scale manifestation of extremism and banditry in the open spaces of the country forced the state apparatus to take some measures.
Two thousand years
In the XXI century. The situation changes with the beginning of the crisis of ideologies. The old forms of ideological politics have lost their significance. First of all, it means their restructuring, development and transition to new forms. The government was able to curb banditry and began to take measures to prevent extremism, especially Islamic movements. In the new decade, skinheads boldly stepped in, their opponents - “Antifa”, nationalists. The movement "ultras" has gained even greater momentum. Opposition to extremism by the state was more concerned with Islamic terrorist organizations and organized crime. This is understandable, since they represented the greatest danger. Therefore, the prevention of extremism has not affected the Slavic youth movements. At the same time, the crisis of political ideology leads to the formation of protest movements. He mobilizes a variety of opposition structures, namely active minorities, whose goal is to draw public attention to certain ideas and social problems. Here the leading role is played by protest, not counterdeology. In response, pro-government organizations appear. There is also consumer extremism.
Global trends
In the world, radical protest movements are directedon the change of human consciousness. So, now there are three main types of such movements: anti-globalists, neo-anarchists and environmentalists. Anti-globalists are a separatist movement for national liberation and the preservation of ethnic uniqueness. Neo-anarchists are in favor of resisting a centralized state apparatus from the bottom up and the domination of society over the state. Environmentalists, as noted by the English political ideology researcher John Schwartzmantel, is a movement aimed at solving one of the problems - survival. It is aimed at criticizing enlightenment and anthropocentrism, which received the highest level of development in an industrial society in which man is postulated as the highest being in nature. These movements can appear in two forms: as the superideology of the future or a narrowly focused environmental movement. The fight against extremism takes a lot of time and effort from all the world's special services and law enforcement agencies.
Types of extremist movements
The distinction between extremist communities and criminal associations infringing upon the person and the rights of citizens follows in the following way.
one ) An extremist movement created with the aim of carrying out crimes, as well as developing plans and / or conditions for their commission.
The purpose of creating a criminal association isthe very abuse of citizens, the harm to their health, the inducement to refuse to perform civil duties or to commit other illegal actions.
2) Extremist community created to commit crimes of low or medium gravity.
The activity of the criminal association is connected with the commission of crimes of all degrees of gravity.
3) An extremist movement created to prepare for the commission of extremist crimes on the basis of ideological, racial, political, religious or national hatred.
The presence of these motives is obligatory,constructive sign of an extremist community. A purely criminal association can be formed for various reasons that are not decisive.
Outcomes
So, summing up, we can conclude thatmodern extremism is one of the most destructive phenomena. It affects not only the legal consciousness, but in general the way of thinking and the life of people. For the many reforms that are needed today in virtually all segments of the state, extremism is a significant threat to success. In this regard, any research in this direction is nothing but a simple attempt to assess the situation and understand this phenomenon, and on the other hand, to develop effective measures to neutralize the most dangerous manifestations of the negative course. Prevention of extremism of all interpretations (including pro-government) is the key to the success of the development of any society. Any movement of this kind begins with a protest. When the mass of the protest electorate greatly increases in society, the atmosphere in it heats up. The emergence of extremist organizations is the next stage. In fact, in a society a kind of valve works. That is, this way is relieved tension. However, there is a certain threshold, followed by a social explosion. The fight against extremism should not rely only on force. They, as a rule, give only temporary effect.
