Going Mainstream by Julia Ebner

After reading Going Dark, Julia Ebner’s earlier exploration of online extremist subcultures, Going Mainstream feels like the necessary next step. Where the first book examined hidden communities operating at the edges of the internet, this one turns toward something far more unsettling: what happens when those ideas stop living on the fringes and begin shaping mainstream culture, politics, and everyday life.

Ebner’s investigations reveal a clear and repeating pattern. Whether looking at incel communities, White Lives Matter activists, QAnon, or climate change denial networks, these movements begin as marginal subcultures with limited impact on wider discourse. Their influence grows when they succeed in building strong international networks and, crucially, their own alternative media ecosystems. Once these ecosystems exist, ideas no longer depend on mainstream platforms for legitimacy. They circulate within parallel networks, gather momentum, and begin to exert pressure on the centre.

Over time, this process shifts public attitudes. The Overton Window moves. Language that once felt unthinkable becomes acceptable. Beliefs that once sounded extreme begin to feel familiar. The final stage, Ebner argues, is characterised by escalating conflict between liberal and illiberal visions of the future — what she calls proxy culture wars. Her conclusion is difficult to avoid: we are now living in the decade of mainstreamed radicalism and hyper-polarisation.

Identity, Belonging, and the Emotional Core of Radicalisation

One of the strongest aspects of Ebner’s work is her insistence that radicalisation cannot be understood through ideology alone. Throughout the book, she returns to the emotional and psychological needs that extremist movements exploit.

Many movements deliberately cultivate exclusivity because exclusivity creates belonging. For some individuals, that belonging becomes so powerful that their group identity begins to merge with their personal identity — a phenomenon known as identity fusion.

“A fused identity based on powerful bonding experiences and a perceived existential threat from an outside enemy may be enough to lead to violence.”

Ebner shows how this fusion can be triggered when members experience conflict with political opponents, or when they believe their rights are being suppressed by the government. Once the world is framed through an existential “us versus them” lens, the step from belief to action becomes easier to justify.

She is also clear that ideology alone is rarely the sole driver of violence. Terrorism tends to occur when radical ideas meet personal grievances. Emotional vulnerability, isolation, resentment, and a search for meaning all form the psychological groundwork on which extremist narratives thrive.

Extremist forums are particularly effective at exploiting these vulnerabilities. They create the illusion of intimacy and kinship between members. But unlike real friendships, these relationships rarely develop into anything sustained or tangible. Instead of providing genuine belonging, they often deepen isolation, reinforcing cycles of nihilism and exacerbating mental health struggles such as anxiety and depression.

The Contradictions at the Heart of Regressive Movements

A recurring theme throughout the book is the deep contradiction embedded within many anti-liberal movements. They frequently adopt the language of freedom while working actively against the principles they claim to defend.

Ebner captures this dynamic succinctly:

“In theory, they campaign in the name of free speech. In practice, they destroy open debate.In theory, they claim to defend rights. In practice, they seek to undo fundamental human rights.In theory, they say they want to protect democracy. In practice, they erode trust in democracy itself.”

This pattern appears across conspiracy movements, anti-feminist spaces, authoritarian political rhetoric, and disinformation ecosystems. They often present themselves as defenders of liberty while simultaneously undermining the social and institutional foundations that make liberty possible.

Closely tied to this is another idea that runs throughout the book: many people drawn into grievance-based movements experience social change not as progress, but as personal loss.

“Privilege is largely invisible to those who have it.”

Ebner argues that when existing hierarchies begin to be questioned, discomfort can quickly transform into resentment. Cultural shifts toward equality are interpreted not as collective progress, but as personal persecution. This perceived loss becomes fertile ground for identity politics, victimhood narratives, and radicalisation.

Incel Culture and the Architecture of Misogyny

Ebner’s examination of incel communities is detailed and disturbing. She outlines the explicit rules that govern participation in some of the largest forums. Members are expected to reject romantic optimism, categorise themselves using ideological labels such as “bluepilled,” “redpilled,” or “blackpilled,” despise women (particularly feminists), and often internalise self-hatred.

While the demographics of these communities vary, a lack of social confidence and difficulty navigating relationships are common characteristics. Incel ideology is also shaped by an intense focus on “lookism” — the belief that physical appearance determines human worth. Ebner does not deny that appearance-based bias exists; research suggests that attractiveness can influence social outcomes. The danger lies in how these grievances are politicised and merged with broader extremist narratives.

She also highlights the ideological overlap between misogyny and far-right racism. Narratives of white male victimhood often bridge both ecosystems. When combined with mental health struggles, these narratives can escalate into increasingly extreme and detached belief systems.

How Fringe Ideas Connect and Reinforce Each Other

One of the most important contributions of Going Mainstream is its demonstration that radical ideas rarely exist in isolation. People who adopt one extremist worldview often layer others onto it. White nationalism merges with conspiracy thinking. Anti-feminism overlaps with climate change denial. Anti-vaccine narratives intersect with authoritarian politics. These belief systems reinforce one another and create self-contained ecosystems resistant to challenge.

Ebner’s analysis of climate change denial is a clear example of how mainstreaming operates. She categorises denial actors into four types: the shill, the grifter, the egomaniac, and the ideological fool. Their motivations differ, but their networks frequently overlap through shared financial interests, political backing, and alternative media infrastructures.

She also examines tactics such as carbon shaming, which redirect attention away from corporations and onto individuals. This obscures the reality that a small number of fossil fuel companies are responsible for a disproportionate share of global emissions.

Across all of these examples, the pattern remains consistent: mainstreaming does not require majority support. It requires coordination, repetition, infrastructure, and emotional resonance.

Disinformation, Media Incentives, and Why Fact-Checking Fails

Ebner is particularly strong on the failures of modern information ecosystems. She notes that once disinformation spreads, fact-checking rarely undoes the damage. Debunks travel more slowly, reach fewer people, and struggle to compete emotionally with sensational narratives.

“Sensationalist and radical content consistently outperforms truthful and moderate posts.”

This creates a structural incentive problem across social media platforms, alternative media, and even mainstream outlets. Outrage travels faster than nuance. Fear travels faster than context. And conspiracy communities do not merely offer alternative facts — they offer alternative identities and alternative belonging. This is why rational correction alone so often fails.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed this weakness clearly. Vaccine sceptics were frequently platformed in mainstream media despite lacking relevant expertise, with their views presented as legitimate alternatives in debate. This legitimisation accelerated polarisation. For many people exhausted by crisis, conspiracy narratives provided something psychologically appealing: identifiable villains to blame.

Foreign Disinformation and the Weaponisation of Confusion

Ebner devotes significant attention to Russian information warfare and its impact on Western polarisation. Her argument is that the objective is not necessarily to persuade, but to destabilise. By flooding the information environment with contradictory narratives, trust in truth itself begins to erode.

She traces how conspiracy myths often travel from anonymous online accounts, to Russian state media, to fringe Western influencers, and eventually into mainstream discourse. The biolab conspiracy theory is a clear example of how effectively this pipeline operates.

The goal is confusion. And confusion, politically, is powerful.

What Can Be Done?

Ebner ends the book with fifteen recommendations for countering the mainstreaming of extreme ideas. Rather than focusing purely on technological solutions, many emphasise cultural and psychological factors.

She argues that trust is emotional and identity-based rather than purely rational. That co-design and community engagement are more effective than top-down lectures. That interventions must avoid being patronising. That digital literacy gaps, particularly across generations, need to be addressed. And that policy continues to lag behind technological development, with no clear solution yet in sight.

Perhaps most importantly, she insists that we must pay attention to the human side of all activists, no matter how bizarre or counterfactual their ideas may appear. Understanding is not endorsement — but without understanding, meaningful prevention is impossible.

Going Mainstream is an uncomfortable but essential book. Ebner dismantles the comforting illusion that extremism exists only at the margins of society. Instead, she shows how slowly and subtly fringe ideas seep into mainstream discourse, shaping politics, media, education, and everyday conversation.

If Going Dark explored the hidden architecture of extremist subcultures, Going Mainstream reveals what happens when that architecture begins to shape the wider world.

The most unsettling implication is also the most important: radicalisation is not something that happens only to “other people.” In times of uncertainty, crisis, and information overload, entire societies become vulnerable. Understanding that process may be one of the most urgent tasks of our time.