Hardships of Extremism

Chapter 8 reports on circumstances and reasons that our interviewees disengaged from the right-wing movement. The chapter begins by combining our 3N approach with a commonly cited “push–pull” framework to understand the mechanisms through which disengagement may typically occur. Analyses revealed that it was unlikely for a singular event to cause disengagement; rather, circumstances pertinent to several radicalization factors (the three Ns) were likely to be present. Diverging from other accounts of disengagement, the most frequently cited reason for leaving pertained to disillusionment with the ideological narrative advanced within the right wing. Throughout, the authors highlight the commonalities of their findings with those of past research, revealing the universal process of radicalization and deradicalization that underlies seemingly disparate special cases. The chapter also discusses the components of disengagement from extremism that appear to be unique to the German context.