Dr Xander Kirke

Xander Kirke's research focuses on the role that political myths and ontological security play in terrorism, extremism, and radicalisation. He has investigated the role of political myths in extremist material, such as the online al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, that seek to radicalise predominately young people into acts of terrorism. Using insights from existentialist and phenomenological philosophy, he has highlighted how political myths are deployed in order to provide potential recruits with a sense of significance and thereby encourage violence. He has developed a framework that brings political myth and ontological security together to understand how communities pursue a stable sense of self under conditions of anxiety.

Xander is also interested in how certain identities are mobilised by the radical and far-right in unlikely ways. In particular, how some radical right rhetoric has shifted to appeal to LGBTQ+ people, although this rhetoric is mostly targeted towards cisgender gay people. This work forms the basis of a forthcoming book, co-authored with Russell Foster, on the radical right and alter-progressivism.

He has several ongoing projects on the radical right, political myths, and ontological security, and is continuing to develop his theoretical work on myth in international relations more broadly.