The problem of extremism has affected many countries. The phenomenon of discriminatory violence has a long and tragic history. The colonial past of many states led to the emergence of mixed societies in which the color of a person's skin, national, religious or ethnic affiliation determined his legal status. But even today, among the factors that cause particular concern is the constant growth of crimes related to violence motivated by racial, religious, and national intolerance. The fight against extremism is very important. Because xenophobia and racism against foreigners often take on the scale of social phenomena, and a number of murders and cases of ill-treatment cause great concern about the growth of destructive aggression in society. Countering extremism is one of the main tasks of any state. This is the key to his safety.
The concept of "extremism"
This concept is closely related to extremes. Extremism is a commitment in ideology and politics to extreme positions in views and choicethe same means to achieve certain goals. The term means in translation "ultimate", "critical", "incredible", "extreme". Extremism is a trend that opposes existing communities, structures and institutions, trying to disrupt their stability, to eliminate them in order to achieve their goals. This is done mainly by force. Extremism is not only a disregard for generally accepted rules, norms, laws, but also a negative social phenomenon.
Characteristics of extremism
Simultaneous adherence to extreme actions and views is possible in any area of public life. Each crime is also an extreme degree of antisocial behavior, an acute form of social conflict, going beyond the norms, but we do not call all crime extremism. Because these concepts are different. Extremism should be understood as a well-defined phenomenon. Some researchers define extremism as attachment, devotion to extreme measures and views (usually in politics). They note that extremism manifests itself in various spheres of human activity: politics, interethnic and interethnic relations, religious life, the ecological sphere, art, music, literature, etc.
Who is an extremist?
The concept of "extremist" is often associated with a person who uses and advocates violence against the generally accepted norms of society. Sometimes this is called people who are trying to impose their will on society with the help offorces, but not in the same way as a government or a constitutional majority. There is another opinion, according to which extremism is not just and not always a trend that is identified with a violent factor. For example, an English researcher in his work notes that the policy of non-violent struggle (satyagraha) of Mahatma Gandhi in India is an example of a new type of extremism. So, extremism can be seen as a way of radical objection not only to legislative rules, but also to social norms - established rules of behavior.
Youth extremism
Youthful extremism in Russia is a relatively new phenomenon, in contrast to Britain, where it appeared back in the 50s and 60s of the XX century. This predetermines the insufficient level of development of this topic in the legal literature. In our opinion, there are a number of unresolved problems related to the research and prevention of extremist crimes committed by young people as part of a group. Extremism among the youth is constantly gaining momentum. These are, for example, such movements as skinheads, antifa.
Crime and extremism
Criminal extremism is an illegal, socially dangerous act of a person or group of persons aimed at achieving their goals (goals), based on extreme ideological, political and other views. Following this understanding, it would be quite reasonable to assert that practically every crime is a manifestation of extremism. Crime,associated with the manifestation of its various forms, it is impossible to fully consider without studying extremism as a negative social factor and its relationship with the mechanism of state power and social control.
Racial nationalist extremism
As the studies of social reality confirm, one of the most common types is national extremism. As a rule, this is a manifestation of extreme views in the field and about the mutual coexistence of various ethnic groups and races. One of the components of the object of these encroachments is precisely ethnic groups in all their diversity, and not nations, as is often noted in journalistic, scientific and other sources. Extremism has been known to mankind since ancient times, since the time when power over the surrounding people began to bring material benefits and therefore turned into an object of aspirations of individual individuals. They tried to achieve the desired goal by any means. At the same time, they were not embarrassed by moral principles and barriers, generally accepted rules, traditions, and the interests of other people. The end has always and at all times justified the means, and people who aspired to the heights of power did not stop even before using the most cruel and barbaric measures, including destruction, open violence, terrorism.
Historical background
Extremism has existed since the advent of organized society. In different periods it appeared in different forms. Particularly in ancientGreece extremism was presented in the form of intolerance towards other nations. So, in the works of the famous ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, the use of the name "barbara" (barbarus) or "barbarians" is observed in relation to neighboring peoples. This showed them disrespect. The Romans used this name for all peoples of non-Greek or non-Roman origin, but at the end of the existence of the Roman Empire, the word "barbarian" began to be used in the context of various Germanic tribes. The same trend was observed in ancient China, when the neighbors of the Celestial Empire were perceived as wild and cruel tribes of foreigners. The latter were called "ede" ("dwarfs" and "dogs") or "si" ("four barbarians").
Specialists in the fields of sociology and jurisprudence believe that the causes of extremism lie in human psychology. It arose at the time of the formation of statehood. However, modern extremism in Russia is due to many social, legal, political, religious, administrative, economic and other processes taking place in a certain geographical area over the past century. An analysis of the specialized literature on this issue indicates that in any state extremism has different social and criminological characteristics. In addition, extremism, like every social phenomenon, is characterized by historical variability.
In fact, all the conspiracies and rebellions that are rich in both domestic and world history,represented, from the point of view of the legislation in force at that time and the existing social structure, nothing more than peculiar types of criminal groups that sought to achieve political goals. But at the same time there were cases of group spontaneous-impulsive outbreaks of arbitrariness, vandalism and violence against a person, and there were also criminal associations. The opinion that organized crime (at least in its modern sense) did not take place in the twenties of the last century can hardly be recognized as correct. Indeed, historical studies indicate the presence of an extensive structure of criminal groups, for example, in the pre-revolutionary and civil war times in Odessa, and it is indicated that the activities of these criminal extremist groups had the character and all signs of power (along with the governor's and the French occupation). Extremism and crime are related phenomena. Only criminals strive for material gain or power, while extremists defend political, religious or racial beliefs, which also does not exclude the desire for material things.
Crime in the Soviet Union as the progenitor of extremist movements in Russia
During the twenties of the last century, during the implementation of the so-called New Economic Policy (NEP) by the leadership of the Soviet Union, organized criminal groups operated mainly in the economic sphere. They covered their activities under the guise ofpseudo-cooperatives and other similar economic structures. Ordinary crime was only recovering its influence after the harsh measures taken by the authorities to stop the aforementioned robberies and murders.
The curtailment of economic transformations in the late 20s and during the 30s of the last century resumed the dominance of common criminal organized crime. The same period is characterized by the emergence of a criminal community of "thieves in law", and in science and journalism various assumptions are expressed regarding its formation - from spontaneous occurrence to the deliberate creation by state security agencies in places of deprivation of liberty in order to provide a counterbalance to possible associations of political prisoners and control over them.. During the Second World War and in the post-war years, there was a second surge of organized crime in the form of banditry. In scientific studies, which indicate that organized crime is not a new phenomenon for society, it is said that it appeared in the 50s … Military units were involved in the fight against gangs, special units were created in the internal affairs bodies to combat banditry, which successfully operated until the mid-50s, when the level of banditry as a result of tough measures taken by the authorities significantly decreased, and the units were liquidated.
Soon there were theses about the extinction of crime under socialism and the elimination of professional criminals and banditry in the USSR. The latest postulates dominating Soviet-era criminologyin fact, they concealed the real gradual latentization of organized crime of a general criminal orientation, the emergence against the background of the deformation of economic relations of organized crime of an economic or, as scientists have long called it, "economically selfish" orientation.
Youth movements in the USA and the USSR
In the 60s of the twentieth century. in the United States, a new youth movement has emerged, which is closely associated with musical groups. Extremism in the youth environment originates precisely from this time. The members of the new movement were called hippies, or flower children. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a similar phenomenon appeared in the USSR. Hippies in the US proved to be quite a viable force during the fight against retrogrades and conservatives. Unlike the American "flower children" who protested against the ongoing war in Vietnam, the Soviet hippies fought against the communist repressive system. In contrast to the power system, the Soviet youth created their own. Since the mid-70s, the hippie movement in the United States has been in decline.
The youth movement in the USSR, in fact, became the ancestor of all subsequent youth trends, including extremist ones.
Post-Soviet times
The next wave of extremist organized crime emerged on the territory of the post-Soviet space at the end of the 20th century. due to well-known social upheavals and social transformations. This was largely facilitated by such factors as access tothe will of a significant number of prisoners, the destruction of old police structures, the small number and low professional competence of new ones, the decline of the economic sphere, the devaluation of established social values, and the disorientation of society. Racketeering and banditry swept society. Along with this, various youth movements began to appear: anarchists, metalheads, rappers, etc. Religious and political extremism flourished in the national subjects of the federation. The wars in Chechnya further aggravated the situation. Religious and political extremism began to be represented by many Islamist terrorist groups. As a reaction of society to this, various nationalist extremist movements of the Slavic persuasion began to emerge: skinheads, nazbols, nationalists, etc. To all this, in addition, gangster and prison romance was added. After some time, the fight against fascist extremism begins to gain momentum in society. The Antifa movement appears. There is also a transformation of fan organizations of football clubs into "ultra" groups. The ideology and principles of this movement were borrowed in Britain (as well as by fans of almost all football clubs in the world). From the mid-1990s, the expansion of gangster public structures began to acquire a bold character. Organized crime groups have entered a period of rapid development. Good technical equipment and armament, the establishment of international relations between organized crime groups and organized criminal groups made the police virtually uncompetitive with them. The causes of extremism and banditry in the 1990s are connected withsocio-economic, political and military upheavals. Such a large-scale manifestation of extremism and banditry in the vastness of the country forced the state apparatus to take some measures.
2000 years
In the XXI century. the situation changes with the beginning of the crisis of ideologies. The old forms of ideological politics have lost their significance. First of all, this means their restructuring, development and transition to new forms. The authorities were able to curb banditry and began to take measures to prevent extremism, especially Islamic movements. Skinheads boldly stepped into the new decade, their opponents - Antifa, nationalists. The "ultra" movement has gained even greater momentum. State counteraction to extremism was more concerned with Islamic terrorist organizations and organized crime. This is understandable, since they represented the greatest danger. Therefore, the prevention of extremism has little effect on Slavic youth movements. At the same time, the crisis of political ideology leads to the formation of protest movements. It mobilizes a variety of opposition structures, namely active minorities, whose goal is to draw public attention to certain ideas and social problems. Here the leading role is played by protest, not counter-ideology. In response to this, pro-government organizations appear. There is also consumer extremism.
Global Trends
In the world, radical protest movements are aimed at changing the consciousness of man. So, now there are three main types of such movements: anti-globalists, neo-anarchists andenvironmentalists. Anti-globalists - a separatist movement for national liberation and the preservation of ethnic uniqueness. Neo-anarchists advocate resistance to the centralized state apparatus from the bottom up and the dominance of society over the state. The environmentalists, as noted by the English researcher of political ideologies John Schwartzmantel, are a movement aimed at solving one of the problems - survival. It is aimed at criticizing enlightenment and anthropocentrism, which have received the highest level of development in an industrial society, in which man is postulated as the highest being in nature. These movements can act in two forms: as a super-ideology of the future or a narrowly focused environmental movement. The fight against extremism takes a lot of effort and time from all the world's special services and law enforcement agencies.
Types of extremist movements
To distinguish between extremist communities and criminal associations that infringe on the personality and rights of citizens should be based on the following criteria.
1) An extremist movement created to carry out crimes, as well as developing plans and / or conditions for their commission.
The purpose of creating a criminal association is the very violence against citizens, causing harm to their he alth, inducing them to refuse to perform civic duties or to commit other illegal acts.
2) An extremist community created to commit crimes of minor or medium gravity.
Activities of the criminal associationconnected with the commission of crimes of all degrees of gravity.
3) An extremist movement created to prepare for the commission of extremist crimes based on ideological, racial, political, religious or national hatred.
The presence of these motives is a mandatory, constructive sign of an extremist community. A purely criminal association can be formed for various reasons, which are not decisive.
Results
So, summing up, we can conclude that modern extremism is one of the most destructive phenomena. It affects not only the sense of justice, but also the way people think and live in general. For the numerous necessary reforms being carried out today in almost all segments of the state, extremism is a significant threat to success. In this regard, any research in this direction is nothing more than an attempt to assess the situation and understand this phenomenon, and on the other hand, the development of effective measures to neutralize the most dangerous manifestations of the negative current. Prevention of extremism of all kinds (including pro-government) is the key to the success of the development of any society. Any movement of this kind begins with a protest. When the mass of the protest electorate greatly increases in a society, the atmosphere in it heats up. The emergence of extremist organizations is the next stage. In fact, a certain valve works in society. That is, in this way tension is relieved. However, there is a certain threshold beyond whichsocial explosion. The fight against extremism should not rely solely on forceful methods. They are usually only temporary.
