WHY ARE RADICAL MOVEMENTS GOING MAINSTREAM?
“People don't believe in the way democracy is currently constituted anymore,” says Jamie Bartlett, a technology journalist and director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos. “People are frustrated with the way democracy works now.” Research conducted by Pew in 2015 supports this idea, with just 19% of Americans saying they trusted the government always or most of the time, while 55% thought ‘ordinary Americans’ would do a better job of solving national problems.
The frustration and dissatisfaction felt towards the ‘establishment’ has led some individuals to brand themselves as outsiders – actively removing themselves from the mainstream and using technology to help them overcome the status quo. It’s these people that Bartlett examines in his book Radicals: Outsiders Changing the World. Starting in 2014, he followed a number of fringe movements – from transhumanists to militant environmentalists – to see what could be learned from their position as outsiders, and if their ideologies had the potential to seep into mainstream consciousness. But who are the people behind these movements, and what is it about today’s political climate that’s allowing them to gain ground?
How are these radicals gaining traction among people who may not have been involved in political or cultural movements before? One of the main vehicles they’re using is the internet. By publishing their views online, ideas spread faster and further than ever before. They’re also manipulating media outlets to spread their seemingly sensationalist agendas to new audiences, providing their radical views with a sense of legitimacy. And when working with existing media isn’t enough, radical thinkers are taking matters into their own hands and creating whole new systems that challenge the status quo.
The seeds of political discontent have found fertile ground on social media platforms, where the boundaries between the personal and political have blurred. With 79% of American internet users on Facebook and 12% of people worldwide using online social channels as their main news source, having a strong digital presence is key for brands and politicians alike. It’s why Obama was dubbed the ‘first social media president’ due to his unprecedented use of Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat in his campaigns. Hillary Clinton followed suit in 2016, turning to digital question-asking platform Quora and releasing a podcast during her presidential campaign in a bid to engage more Gen Yers.
“The great value [of radical movements] is that they stimulate the rest of us into imagining more for ourselves, so we get out of the rigid ways of thinking about how we live,” says Bartlett. “Radicals have always been around, but two things make them particularly prevalent now: the lower barriers of coordinating action and communicating thanks to the internet, and the dramatic decline of trust and confidence in the way that we do politics today. Put those two things together and there are good conditions for new movements to start springing up."
It’s not always the ideas that win people’s support, but how these movements spread. According to Rick A. Ross, founder of the Cult Education Institute, successful brands and cults may be similar in their use of authoritarian leadership and a set worldview. Additionally, they may champion a supposedly superior ideology, using terms that only an in-group would understand. And although these methods will alienate some people, with 79% of Americans and 72% of Britons saying they prefer to buy from brands that demonstrate their commitment to and understanding of consumers, there’s a good argument for building a community around a business.
When applied to radical movements, thought leaders that show their devotion to their cause are likelier to draw loyal and committed followers. In the case of Zoltan Istvan and his Transhumanist Party, it was about positioning himself as a forward-thinking leader with everyone’s future interests at heart. With Beppe Grillo – whose party was divided in political stance – the main unifier was an anti-establishment sentiment. And for Vit Jedlička, it was the drive to form a country free of any real government.