Sticky ideologies and non-violent heterodox politics

In recent years, the balance of counter-terrorism discourse has tipped rightwards. But in addressing the problem of extremism, the rise of a strange mix of subcultures with fluid identities has resulted in traditional definitional starting points for understanding ideological extremism being re-evaluated. In particular, the themes of empowerment, resisting law enforcement and a sense of grievance and injustice have propelled anti-statist groups like Sovereign Citizens (SC) into a snowballing societal prominence and a renewed policy attention. The growth of such transnational networks, who believe that they are not bound by the authority of any government, is also facilitated by the proliferation of misinformation and conspiracy theories via social media platforms.

Critically, SC are not a district hierarchical grouping and the movement is broadly not violent and often characterised by antisocial behaviour or low-level forms of crime. Yet there is broader potential for radicalisation and violent plots aimed at the government, including lone wolf action as well as organised paramilitary bands engaging in domestic terrorism. At the same time, it will be argued that the extremist landscape has become much more fragmented and incohesive, frameworks for exploring extremism have mutated and a variety of anti-statist syncretic currents continue to draw from a wide spectrum the slides between conventional “right” and “left”. Various manifestations of SC actors bonded within heterogeneous communities are increasingly displaying the emergence of highly fluid ways of thinking that harnesses a patchwork of ideological narratives to rationalise and justify collective prescriptions.