EDITORIAL

by Peter Jukes

Editorial – The Need to Be Seen

If we look beyond the bleak vision of a potential summer of more disunity and disruption, the paradox is that the most vehement attacks on democracy often come from those who feel the lack of it the most.

That was one of the revelations of our evening ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ – an immersive adventure into extremism and deradicalisation that we held in London in April to celebrate Byline Times’ sixth birthday.

As Joe Mulhall, director of research for the leading anti-fascist organisation Hope Not Hate explained, the people susceptible to far-right groups have a smouldering sense of injustice, which is diverted and perverted by their leaders. They are not “monsters” but people like us: “Sometimes in our families, our trade unions, in our neighborhoods, on our streets.”

James Bloodworth – who investigated the causes of last summer’s riots for this month’s cover story – agreed. The author of the forthcoming book Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere observed that the grievances of young men in deindustrialised towns and villages are real: low-paid precarious work, poor access to health and housing. But rather than direct their sense of injustice to the powers who have let them down, they are twisted against powerless migrants and minorities.