Handbook of Social and Political Conflict

Sergei A. Samoilenko is Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at George Mason University. His research focuses on issues in crisis communication, reputation management, and political communication. He is a co-founder of the Research Lab for Character Assassination and Reputation Politics (CARP), an interdisciplinary research community, studying strategies and tactics of subversive communication and ways to counter them. He is an author and editor of several books, including the Handbook of Research on Deception, Fake News, and Misinformation Online. Solon Simmons is Full Professor and Director of The Narrative Transformation Lab (TNT Lab) at George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, where he is leading efforts to develop cutting-edge narrative tools for use in practical applications in both adversarial struggles for justice and collaborative journeys toward peace. Solon served as interim Dean for the Carter School in 2013, Vice President for Global Strategy for George Mason from 2014-2017, and is currently President of the Faculty Senate.

• Tables and Figures ixNotes on Contributors xi1. Introduction 1Solon Simmons and Sergei A. SamoilenkoSection I Polarization, Moral Outrage, and Extremism 172. Polarization 19Samantha Vilkins, Axel Bruns, Sebastian Svegaard, Tariq Choucair, and Katharina Esau3. Intergroup Emotions in Intergroup Conflicts: Power Disparities Perspective 31Nur Kassem, Nimrod Nir, Anat Perry, and Eran Halperin4. How Political and Social Conflict Enter into the Corporate Realm: Scansis as an Exemplar of Moral Outrage- Inducing Crises 47W. Timothy Coombs and Elina R. Tachkova5. Illiberalism as a Conceptual Prism for Studying Political and Social Conflict 57Marlene Laruelle6. Connective Action and Digital Surrogate Organizations 65Steven Livingston and Lorcan Neill7. Trojan Horse Discourse 75Michiel Luining and Tom Van Hout8. Culture Wars in Central Europe 83Zora Hesová9. Extremist Aggression: A Social Psychological Explanation 93Daniel RothbartSection II Systems of Power and Rhetorics of Control 10510. Rhetoric of Social Conflict 107Gordana Lazić11. Securitization 119Marta Lukacovic12. Cancel Culture Rhetoric 131Jennifer Keohane13. Spiral of Silence and Social Conflict 141Sherice Gearhart and Oluseyi Adegbola14. Social Ostracism and Conflict 151Natasha R. Wood, Andrew H. Hales, and Kipling D. Williams15. Bureaucracy 165Amanda J. Reinke and Jaymelee J. Kim16. Complexity and Distributed Governance 173Jonathan P. MarshallSection III Narrative, World- Building, and Imagination 18517. Applying Structurational Divergence Theory to Sociopolitical Conflict 187Anne M. Nicotera18. Sociomaterial Actors in Political Moral Conflict 201Kristen L. Cole and Spencer D. Choate19. Political Conflict Frames 211Emma S. van der Goot, Michael Hameleers, and Jeroen de Ridder20. Gossip 221Francesca Giardini21. The Epistemic Eclipse: Narrative, Ideology, and the Political Situation 231Oakley T. Hill22. Songworld 241Audrey Ann WilliamsSection IV Media, Misinformation, and Popular Culture 25123. The Tricksters of Permanent Liminality 253Sergei A. Samoilenko24. Persuasive Attack and Defense in Social and Political Conflict 271William L. Benoit25. Character Assassination in Politics: Gendered and Racialized Attacks on Kamala Harris 281Jennifer Keohane, Martijn Icks, Eric Shiraev, and Sergei Samoilenko26. Ridicule in Late- Night Political Humor in the United States: Contours and Consequences 291Stephen J. Farnsworth, S. Robert Lichter, and Farah Latif27. Artificial Intelligence 301Henrik S. Sætra, Stuart Mills, and Evan Selinger28. Visual Misinformation 313Teresa E. Weikmann29. Information Warfare as a Theoretical Construct and an Operational Practice 323Greg Simons and Iulian ChifuSection V Resilience, Humanity, and Hope 33530. Escalation and De- escalation 337Vincent August31. Immunity 349Adalberto Fernandes32. Positive Peace 359Michael D. English and Richard E. Rubenstein33. Communication Approaches to Community Peacebuilding 369Doris E. Wesley and Jessica K. Jameson34. Human Rights 381Clifford Bob35. Women’s Rights Advocacy in Africa 393Innocent Chiluwa36. Inoculation Theory and Conspiracy, Radicalization, and Violent Extremism 405Josh Compton and Kurt Braddock37. Constructive Conflict and Critical Media Literacy 415Nolan Higdon38. The End of War: On the Future of State Violence 427Solon Simmons and Keenan Yoho39. Conclusions, Key Takeaways, and Implications 435Sergei A. Samoilenko and Solon SimmonsIndex 445