Gaming and Extremism The Radicalization of Digital Playgrounds

Foreword Jessica White Introduction: Extremism in Digital Gaming Spaces Linda Schlegel and Rachel Kowert 1. Introduction to Videogames and the Extremist Ecosystem Constance Steinkuehler and Kurt Squire  2. Theories of digital games and radicalization Galen Lamphere-Englund  3. Extremist games and modifications – the “metapolitics” of anti-democratic forces Mick Prinz 4. Digital games as vehicles for extremist recruitment and mobilization Alex Newhouse and Rachel Kowert  5. Extremism on Gaming (-Adjacent) Platforms Jacob Davey  6. Hate and Extremism on Gaming Platforms: Insights from Surveys with the Gaming Community Amarnath Amarasingam and Daniel Kelley  7. Beauty is Power: The Use of Gaming References and Gaming Aesthetics in Extremist Propaganda Ashton Kingdon  8. A is for Apple, B is for Bullet: The Gamification of (Violent) Extremism Suraj Lakhani  9. Level Up: Policies, Practices & Positive Interventions to Counter Terrorism and Violent Extremism in Gaming Spaces Erin Saltman and Nagham El Karhili  10. Preventing and Countering Extremism in Gaming Spaces Linda Schlegel  11. Concluding Thoughts Linda Schlegel and Rachel Kowert

Biography

Linda Schlegel is a Research Fellow at modusIzad, a founding member of the Extremism and Gaming Research Network, and an Associate Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt. Her research interests include gaming/gamification and radicalization, digital P/CVE, and narrative campaigns against extremism.

Rachel Kowert is a Research Psychologist, the Research Director of Take This, and the founder of Psychgeist, a multimedia content production studio for the science of games and pop culture. She is a world-renowned researcher on the uses and effects of digital games and currently serves as one of the primary investigators on the first grant-funded project from the Department of Homeland Security about games and extremism. To learn more about Rachel and her work, visit www.rkowert.com.

"An excellent analysis of gaming and extremism, which highlights some of the most complex challenges in tackling abuse of a constantly-changing technology space. A perfect introduction for a novice and expert alike." - Charley Gleeson, Open-Source Intelligence Analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, UK

"For too long, policy and practice related to gaming and extremism have been based on little more than anecdote and gut feeling. This book is the antidote to that. Full of erudite chapters from world-leading experts, this volume is required reading for policy makers and practitioners alike." - Ross Frenett, Founder and Co-CEO of Moonshot, UK