Learning in Times of Organisational Fluidity: Processes of Knowledge Production and Transfer in Leaderless Extremist Movements

Extremist groups must learn to survive and achieve their goals. While previous research has explored terrorist learning at both individual and organisational levels, it has primarily focused on hierarchical groups. This article examines leaderless movements, arguing that their learning process exten...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eleftheriadou, Marina (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Perspectives on terrorism
Year: 2025, Volume: 19, Issue: 2, Pages: 26-51
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Keywords:
Learning
leaderless movements
post-organisational extremism
Far-right extremism
Jihadism
Description
Summary:Extremist groups must learn to survive and achieve their goals. While previous research has explored terrorist learning at both individual and organisational levels, it has primarily focused on hierarchical groups. This article examines leaderless movements, arguing that their learning process extends beyond the mere sum of individual knowledge. Using farright accelerationism as a case study, it analyses how these movements acquire, interpret, store and disseminate knowledge. By tracing this process, the article identifies the factors that enable or hinder learning, drawing on scholarship on collective learning, while highlighting the similarities and differences between learning in leaderless movements and hierarchical groups.
ISSN:2334-3745
DOI:10.19165/QIIP4767