Political extremism, conflict identities and the search for ontological security in contemporary established democracies

Abstract

This paper argues that a key element driving political instability and politically extreme move- ments in contemporary liberal democracies is found in the search for ontological security by groups disaffected under globalisation and the uncertain conditions oflate modernity. It sug- gests that in many cases, such organisations have found a panacea to anxieties generated by these processes in hardened identities based primarily on fighting for their own survival against the perceived existing political, social and cultural order.