Editing Extremism (section)

{{Short description|Possessing or advocating views well outside the mainstream}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{hatnote group|
{{distinguish|Radicalism (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Political fringe|other political fringe groups|Political fringe movements}}
{{Redirect2|Extremist|Extremists|other uses}}
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{{Party politics}}

'''Extremism''' is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extremism |title=Definition of extremism  |publisher=[[Merriam-Webster Dictionary]] |access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref> The term is primarily used in a [[politics|political]] or [[religion|religious]] sense to refer to an [[ideology]] that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shared social consensus) to be far outside the mainstream attitudes of society.<ref name="The Free Dictionary">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/extremism|title=Extremism – definition of |publisher=[[The Free Dictionary]]|access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref> It can also be used in an economic context. The term may be used [[pejorative]]ly by opposing groups, but is also used in academic and journalistic circles in a purely descriptive and non-condemning sense.

Extremists' views are typically contrasted with those of [[moderate]]s. In [[Western countries]], for example, in contemporary discourse on [[Islam]] or on [[political aspects of Islam#20th and 21st centuries|Islamic political movements]], the distinction between [[Islamic extremism|extremist]] and [[moderate Muslim]]s is commonly stressed.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Political agendas perceived as extremist often include those from the [[far-left politics]] or [[far-right politics]], as well as [[political radicalism|radicalism]], [[reactionary|reactionism]], [[chauvinism]], [[fundamentalism]], and [[fanaticism]].