CFP: Trust & Extremism

It might seem obvious that there is a relationship between lower levels of social and political trust and higher levels of extremism. However, there exists a surprising gap at the intersection of these two areas of research. Trust and Extremism is an inter- and multi-disciplinary edited collection, under advance contract with UBC Press, that seeks to fill this gap. It brings scholars from multiple disciplines, including anthropology, philosophy, political science, religion, criminology, and far-right and terrorism studies, into conversation about the empirical and theoretical connections between trust and extremism.  

The co-editors are seeking up to 3 additional chapters that explicitly address both trust and extremism. Chapters may address any of the following sorts of questions:

• What is dis/trust and how does it inform extremist movements?
• How do extremist movements leverage or weaponize dis/trust?
• How do social identities inform dis/trust of political and legal institutions?
• What is the (inter)relationship between dis/trust and the rise of extremism, radicalism, populism, fundamentalism, and violence?
• How do political and social actors respond to issues of dis/trust within or beyond democratic institutions?

Submission Instructions
Please submit an extended abstract of approximately 1000 words as an attachment (DOC or PDF) to both co-editors at [email protected] and [email protected]. Use “Submission – Trust & Extremism” as your subject line. Deadline for abstracts: August 31, 2026. Decisions announced: September 14, 2026. Deadline for complete first drafts (approx. 7000 words): December 31, 2026.