Ideology and the Microfoundations of Conflict : From Human Needs to Intergroup Violence

This book combines well-known theoretical elements of various disciplines to form a broad picture of the role of ideologies in conflicts, in particular "the supply and demand side" of the ideological market: namely, why individuals choose particular ideologies and how radical groups, and organizations use them to address individuals'' specific needs for the purpose of recruitment. This allows better understanding of the socio-psychological dynamics of social conflicts--why adopting particular ideologies is reasonable given certain socio-economic conditions; why individuals stick to destructive ideologies; and why they embrace major personal risks to join radical groups and advance the goals of these groups.

This book combines theoretical and empirical research across various academic disciplines including economics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and political science to describe why individuals adopt political ideologies and how this choice can potentially exacerbate conflict and violence. Ideology is particularly important to conflict. Data on intra- and international conflict shows that the number of ideologically driven conflicts has increased tremendously in recent decades. Although some researchers started to investigate this link extensively, they struggle to find holistic explanations. The book illustrates that ideologies are not only capable of shaping conflictual behavior or mobilizing political actors, but also of addressing human needs, desires, and preferences. Hence, the authors compile valuable insights from various academic disciplines to explain how individuals adopt ideologies that match their underlying needs and preferences; that ideologies have the capacity to reconcile deprived psychological human needs; and that radical groups and organizations use ideologies to recruit individuals and pursue their objectives. Real-life cases are included to better understand these relationships and to apply the theoretical background to real-world situations.