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 skin color of a person, national, religious or ethnicity determined his legal status. But even today, among the factors that cause particular concern is the constant increase in crimes related to violence motivated by racial, religious, as well as 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 killings and cases of ill-treatment are of great concern to 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 the choice of the same means to achieve certain goals. The term means "limit", "critical", "incredible", "extreme". Extremism is a trend that opposes existing communities, structures and institutions, trying to violate their stability, to eliminate in order to achieve their goals. This is done mainly by force. Extremism is not only a neglect of generally accepted rules, norms, laws, but also a negative social phenomenon.
Extremism
A simultaneous commitment 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 norm, but we do not call all crime extremism. Because these concepts are different. Extremism should be understood as a clearly defined phenomenon. Some researchers define extremism as attachment, devotion to extreme measures and views (usually in politics). They note that extremism is manifested in various spheres of human life: politics, interethnic and interethnic relations, religious life, the environmental sphere, art, music, literature, etc.
Who is an extremist?
The term “extremist” is often associated with a person who uses and advocates violence as opposed to generally accepted norms of society. This is sometimes called people who try to impose their will on society by force, but not like the government or the constitutional majority. There is another opinion according to which extremism is not simply 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 considered as a way of a 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, in which it appeared back in the 1950s and 1960s. This determines the insufficient level of development of this topic in the legal literature. In our opinion, there are a number of unresolved issues related to the research and prevention of extremist crimes committed by youth as part of a group. Extremism in the youth environment is constantly gaining momentum. This, for example, movements such as skinheads, antifa.
Crime and Extremism
Criminal extremism is an unlawful, socially dangerous act of a person or group of persons aimed at achieving their goals (goals), based on the basis of extreme ideological, political and other views. Following this understanding, the assertion that almost every crime is a manifestation of extremism will be quite justified. Crime related to the manifestation of its various forms cannot be fully considered without the study of extremism as a negative social factor and its relationship with the mechanism of state power and social management.
Racial Nationalist Extremism
As studies of social reality confirm, one of the common types is national extremism. As a rule, this is a manifestation of extreme views in the sphere and regarding the mutual coexistence of various ethnic groups and races. One of the components of the object of these attacks is precisely ethnic groups in all their diversity, and not the nation, as is often noted in journalistic, scientific and other sources. Extremism has been known to mankind since ancient times, since when power over surrounding people began to bring material benefits and therefore has become the subject of aspirations of 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, interests of other people. The goal always and at all times justified the means, and those who sought the heights of power did not stop even using the most cruel and barbaric measures, including destruction, open violence, terrorism.
History reference
Extremism has existed since the advent of organized society. At different periods, he appeared in different forms. In particular, in ancient Greece, extremism was presented in the form of intolerance towards other peoples. So, in the works of famous ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, the use of the name "barbara" (barbarus) or "barbarians" relative to neighboring peoples is observed. In this they showed disrespect for them. The Romans used this name to all peoples of non-Greek or non-Roman origin, but at the end 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 Middle Kingdom were perceived as wild and cruel tribes of foreigners. The latter were called "food" ("dwarfs" and "dogs") or "these" ("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 caused by many social, legal, political, religious, administrative, economic and other processes taking place in a certain geographical space 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 with which both domestic and world history is rich 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 outbursts of outrage, vandalism and violence against a person, as well as 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 considered correct. After all, historical studies indicate the presence of a branched structure of criminal groups, for example, in the pre-revolutionary and Odessa civil war, and it is indicated that the activities of these criminal extremist groups had the character and all signs of power (along with the governor and French occupation). Extremism and crime are related phenomena. Only criminals strive for material gain or power, and extremists uphold political, religious or racial beliefs, which also does not exclude the desire for material.
Crime in the Soviet Union as the progenitor of extremist movements in Russia
During the twenties of the last century, during the implementation by the leadership of the Soviet Union of the so-called new economic policy (NEP), organized criminal groups acted mainly in the economic sphere. They carried out the cover of their activities under the guise of pseudo-cooperatives and other similar economic structures. Ordinary crime only regained its influence after harsh measures taken by the authorities with the aim of stopping the robberies and killings of the aforementioned.
The curtailment of economic transformations in the late 1920s and during the 1930s resumed dominance of organized crime. The same period is characterized by the emergence of the criminal community of "thieves in law", and in science and journalism they express various assumptions regarding its formation - from spontaneous occurrence to the deliberate creation by state security agencies in places of deprivation of liberty in order to counterbalance and control possible associations of political prisoners. During the Second World War and in the postwar years, a second surge in organized crime in the form of banditry occurred. The scientific studies, which indicate that organized crime is not a new phenomenon for society, speaks of its appearance in the 50s … Military units were involved in the fight against gangs, special units to combat banditry were created in the internal affairs bodies, which successfully operated until the mid-50s, when the level of banditry as a result of tough measures taken by the authorities dropped significantly, and units were liquidated.
Soon the theses appeared about the extinction of crime under socialism and the elimination of professional criminals and banditry in the USSR. Recent postulates that dominated the criminology of the Soviet era, in fact, hid the real gradual latentization of organized crime of a general orientation, the emergence of organized crime of an economic or, as scientists have long called it, economically-mercenary orientation.
Youth movements in the USA and the USSR
In the 60s of the XX century. a new youth movement has arisen in the United States, which is closely connected with musical groups. Extremism among young people originates precisely from these times. Members of the new movement are called hippies, or "children of flowers." In the late 70s - early 80s, a similar phenomenon occurs in the USSR. Hippies in the United States proved to be quite a viable force during the fight against retrograde and conservatives. Unlike the American "flower children" who protested, fought the war that continued in Vietnam, Soviet hippies fought against the communist repressive system. In contrast to the power system, Soviet youth created their own. Since the mid-70s, the hippy movement in the United States has declined.
The youth movement in the USSR, in fact, became the ancestor of all subsequent youth trends, including extremist ones.
Post-Soviet time
The next wave of extremist organized crime was outlined in the territory of the former Soviet Union at the end of the 20th century. due to known social upheavals and social transformations. This was largely facilitated by such factors as the release 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 disorientation of society. Racket and banditry swept society. Along with this, various youth movements began to appear: anarchists, metallers, rappers, etc. Religious and political extremism bloomed in double colors in the national subjects of the federation. The wars in Chechnya exacerbated the situation. Religious and political extremism began to represent many Islamic terrorist groups. As a reaction of society to this, various nationalist extremist movements of the Slavic type began to arise: skinheads, national bolsheviks, nationalists, etc. To all this, in addition, gangster and prison romance mixed in. After some time, the struggle against fascist extremism begins to gain momentum in society. The Antifa movement appears. There is also a transformation of football club fan organizations into Ultras groups. The ideology and principles of this movement were borrowed in Britain (as well as the fans of almost all football clubs in the world). Since the mid-90s, the expansion of gangster public structures began to take on a daring character. Organized criminal groups entered a period of rapid development. Good technical equipment and weapons, the establishment of international relations between the OPS and organized crime groups made the police virtually uncompetitive with them. The causes of extremism and banditry of the 90s are associated with socio-economic, political and military upheavals. Such a large-scale manifestation of extremism and banditry in the vast country forced the state apparatus to take some measures.
2000 years
In the XXI century. the situation changes with the onset of the crisis of ideologies. 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 and nationalists. The ultras movement has gained even greater momentum. The state’s opposition to extremism was more about Islamic terrorist organizations and organized crime. This is understandable, since they represented the greatest danger. Therefore, the prevention of extremism has little affected 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 attract public attention to certain ideas and social problems. Here the leading role is played by protest, not counter-ideology. In response, pro-government organizations appear. There is also consumer extremism.
World trends
In the world, radical protest movements are aimed at changing human consciousness. So, now there are three main types of such movements: antiglobalists, neoanarchists and environmentalists. Anti-globalists are 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. Environmentalists, as John Schwarzmantel, an English researcher of political ideologies, notes, is 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 a person is postulated as the highest being in nature. These movements can come in two forms: as a superideology of the future or a narrowly targeted environmental movement. The fight against extremism takes away a lot of time and energy from all the world's special services and law enforcement agencies.
Types of Extremist Movements
The distinction between extremist communities and criminal associations encroaching on the personality and rights of citizens follows on the following grounds.
1) An extremist movement created with the aim of committing 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 health, inducing refusal to perform civil duties or to commit other illegal actions.
2) An extremist community created to commit crimes of light or medium gravity.
The activities of a criminal association are connected with the commission of crimes of all degrees of severity.
3) An extremist movement created to prepare for the commission of extremist crimes on the basis of ideological, racial, political, religious or national hatred.
The presence of these motives is a mandatory, constructive sign of the extremist community. A purely criminal association can be formed for various reasons that are not decisive.
