Ideology and the Microfoundations of Conflict

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This book combines theoretical and empirical research across various academic disciplines, including economics, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and political science, to describe why individuals adopt political ideologies and how this choice can potentially exacerbate conflict and violence. Ideology is particularly important to conflict. Data on intra- and international conflict shows that the number of ideologically driven conflicts has increased tremendously in recent decades. Although some researchers have started to investigate extensively the link between ideology and conflict, they struggle to find holistic explanations through which ideologies might shape conflict. This book addresses this effort by providing an interrelated multidisciplinary framework to explain the multidimensional functions of ideology. It illustrates that ideologies are not only capable of shaping conflictual behavior or mobilizing political actors, but also of addressing human needs, desires, and preferences. Hence, this book seeks to explain how individuals adopt ideologies that match their underlying needs and preferences; that ideologies have the capacity to reconcile deprived psychological human needs; and that radical groups and organizations use ideologies to recruit individuals and pursue their objectives. To understand these relationships better and to apply the theoretical background to real-world situations, we include real-life cases that describe how depriving individuals of resources that satisfy their underlying needs and preferences can lead them to adopt particular ideologies that are disseminated by radical groups or organizations. These radical groups or organizations then make decisions, which can potentially lead to conflict onset and continuous long-term struggles.</jats:p>