THE AFFECTIVE ARCHITECTURE OF EXTREMISM: Understanding Extremism through Situated Affectivity

This dissertation develops a novel theoretical framework for understanding radicalization and extremism by centering situated affectivity—a perspective that reconceives emotions not as internal mental states but as environmentally scaffolded, relational phenomena. Drawing on philosophy of mind, affect theory, and cognitive science, the work argues that extremist engagement is made possible through affective arrangements—sociomaterial configurations that shape emotional orientations and normalize ideological commitment. These arrangements operate through embodied routines, material affordances, and normative practices that give rise to affective dispositions capable of sustaining radical ideologies. The study shows how both negative and positive emotions—fear, humiliation, pride, nostalgia—are mobilized to forge durable affective ties, which in turn anchor individuals to extremist worldviews and practices. The dissertation consists of six chapters, including three previously published articles. Chapter One offers the conceptual groundwork and an extended case study from Pakistan, illustrating how religious nationalism, educational institutions, and authoritarian statecraft function as affective infrastructures that orient individuals toward rigid and hierarchical modes of belonging. Chapter Two introduces the key mechanisms of affective scaffolding, mind invasion, and self-stimulatory loops, showing how emotions are co-opted and stabilized by extremist milieus. Chapter Three deepens the analysis by examining case studies of digitally mediated radicalization and the affective patterns underpinning online extremism. Chapter Four presents a phenomenological analysis of the Christchurch mosque attack, highlighting the role of sacred passion and nostalgic violence in the formation of extremist subjectivity. Chapter Five critiques dominant counterterrorism approaches by foregrounding the role of racialized marginalization and systemic exclusion in creating affective preconditions for radicalization. Chapter Six summarizes the findings of this dissertation, highlighting how the framework of situated affectivity provides a profound understanding of the affective architecture of extremism while demonstrating its utility as a predictive tool for analyzing societal trajectories toward radicalization and authoritarianism. Across all chapters, the dissertation argues that emotions are not secondary byproducts of ideological transformation but essential structuring forces that enable and sustain it. By framing radicalization as a situated affective phenomenon, the study offers a philosophically rigorous and empirically informed account of the emotional architectures through which extremism is not only justified by those drawn to it but also rendered deeply felt and profoundly lived.