Special Issue on Violent Extremism 2026

A photo showing a close-up impasto oil painting of a human face composed of fragmented, palette-knife patches in blue, orange, yellow, red, and white. The mosaic-like brushstrokes assemble piercing blue eyes, nose, and mouth from disparate color blocks, visually evoking the article's "salad bar" metaphor of composite, hybrid extremist worldviews built from diverse ideological fragments.

Commentary

Why the ‘salad bar’ might actually help extremism research – A reply to Horgan and Shayler

By Stephane Baele

July 8, 2026

Commentary

The erosion of conceptual clarity in the study of political violence

By Arie Perliger

July 6, 2026

$A mixed-media collage portrait showing a faceless human figure constructed from torn paper fragments in muted tones of beige, gray, blue, and brown. The fractured, layered composition assembles disparate scraps into a single ambiguous form, visually evoking the article's theme of fragmented, patchwork ideologies and the conceptual incoherence behind "salad bar" extremism, where contradictory pieces combine into one unstable identity.$

Perspective

Why the ‘salad bar of ideologies’ does not help us understand contemporary violent extremism

By John Horgan & Morgan Shayler

June 16, 2026

Explore Recent Articles

Why the ‘salad bar’ might actually help extremism research – A reply to Horgan and Shayler

The erosion of conceptual clarity in the study of political violence

Why the ‘salad bar of ideologies’ does not help us understand contemporary violent extremism

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Why the ‘salad bar’ might actually help extremism research – A reply to Horgan and Shayler

The erosion of conceptual clarity in the study of political violence

Why the ‘salad bar of ideologies’ does not help us understand contemporary violent extremism