Description
In recent years, the world has witnessed the rise of a new wave of violent far-right extremism. Significantly, this development has coincided with a new type of organisational structure within many neo-Nazi terrorist groups. These groups now increasingly organise in decentralised environments, emphasising an ideology of leaderless resistance, while making efforts towards the destabilisation of society at large.
Contemporary terrorism studies has often referred to the ideology of this particular milieu as “accelerationism.” However, this term can carry an array of meanings and associations. It has been utilised to refer to phenomena as wide-ranging as Marxist political strategy, a specific class of British philosophy from the 1990s, and is increasing used as a signifier for certain far-right internet groups operating mostly in an online context. This terminological ambiguity can lead to a pronounced lack of clarity when used as an etic term within scholarship, especially when the intended meaning is left ill-defined.
This paper aims to provide an outline of the history of the term “accelerationism” and its changing meanings. It will investigate the origins of the term, how it came to be appropriated by far-right groups, as well as how it ended up as a popular term in academic discourse. Finally, it will critically reflect on the theoretical implications of this history for scholarship in terrorism studies.
