Dying for the cause? The logic and function of ideologically motivated suicide, martyrdom, and self-sacrifice within the contemporary extreme right

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent years, extreme right-wing militancy and terrorism have increasingly become the major source of violent attacks, killings, and threats in many Western countries. Yet, the characteristics and logic of right-wing terrorism remain poorly understood. One aspect virtually unexplored is the apparent lack of suicide terror tactics within far-right terrorism. Suicide terrorism has been attributed mainly to religious and ethno-separatist terrorist organizations. This article explores the contemporary extreme right’s stance toward suicide, self-sacrifice, and martyrdom at the ideological, strategic, and subcultural levels through historic references to martyrdom in Nazi Germany and post-WWII far-right movements, as well as extreme right strategic manuals and ideological manifestos. In sum, this article argues that the extreme right is unlikely to use suicide attack tactics in the narrow sense since its own distinct sacrificial martyrdom mythology based on ideological steadfastness and a hypermasculine warrior identity of fighting until defeat incentivizes different types of attacks involving suicide, such as murder-suicides or mass shootings.