Dr William Allchorn

Dr William Allchorn is an Honorary Visiting Senior Fellow at PIER. He is an expert on radical-right extremist social movements in the UK, Western Europe and globally.

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Background

He has most recently advised the UK, US and Australian governments on their approaches to radical-right extremism. His first book, Anti-Islamic Protest in the UK: Policy Responses to the Far Right was published by Routledge in 2018.

Recently, William’s research has shifted to studying of the violent far right threat landscape. As of August 2020, for example, he has started a new research project, testing violent far-right extremist counter-narratives in the UK, US and Australia. His forthcoming book based on the project, Moving beyond Islamist Extremism - Assessing Counter Narrative Responses to the Global Far Right, was published by Ibidem (an imprint of Columbia University Press) in early 2022.

Spoken Languages

• English
• French

Research interests

1. Global radical right
2. Anti-Islam protest movements
3. Cumulative extremism
4. Counter-terrorism and counter-extremism policy responses
5. Radical right terror and social movements
6. Islamophobia
7. Online, political, social and criminal consequences of political extremism

Areas of research supervision

William is available to supervise students conducting research in his areas of expertise.

Qualifications

• PhD in Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds
• MA in Politics (Parliamentary), University of Leeds
• BA in Politics, University of Nottingham
• Associate Fellow, UK Higher Education Academy

Memberships, editorial boards

• Senior Fellow, Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right
• Associate Fellow, Global Network on Extremism and Technology
• Member, ECPR Standing Committee on Extremism and Democracy

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

William has previously conducted research projects investigating radical right-extremist narratives and testing counter-narratives for the EU Commission, UK Home Office, the Australian Department for Foreign Affairs and Big Tech.

Selected recent publications

Books

Allchorn, W., Orofino, E., 2023 (forthcoming). Handbook of Non-Violent Extremism: Groups, Perspectives and New Debates (London: Routledge).

Allchorn, W., 2022. Moving beyond Islamist Extremism: Assessing Counter Narrative Responses to the Global Far Right (Stuttgart/Hannover and New York: Ibidem and Columbia University Press).

Allchorn, W. (Ed.), 2019. Tracking the Rise of the Radical Right Globally: CARR Yearbook 2018/2019 (New York: Columbia University Press).

Allchorn, W., 2018. Anti-Islamic Protest in the UK: Policy Responses to the Far Right (London: Routledge).

Book chapters

Allchorn, W., 2019. Cumulative Extremism and the Online Space: Reciprocal Radicalisation Effects on the Extreme Right and Radical Islamists in the UK. In: Littler, M., Lee, B. (Eds.), 2019. The New Extremism: Readings in Violence, Radicalisation and Extremism in the Digital Space (London: Palgrave).

Journal articles

Allchorn, W., 2020. Free Speech Defenses and the Far Right: The Cases of Tommy Robinson, Geert Wilders and Milo Yiannopoulos. EuropeNow.

Allchorn, W., 2019. Political Responses to Anti-Islamic Protest: Responses, Rationales, and Role Evaluations. British Politics.

Allchorn, W., 2018. Beyond Islamophobia? Englishness and English National Identity in the discourse and politics of the English Defence League. National Identities. doi: 10.1080/14608944.2018.1531840

Allchorn, W., 2013. From national "clean hands" to a local "engagement" approach? UK Members of Parliament experiences in countering the British National Party in their constituencies. Journal of Politics and International Studies, 8.

Recent presentations and conferences

Allchorn, W., June 2022. From the Margins to the Mainstream: The UK Populist Radical Right at a Time of Transition. Mapping European Populism: Panel IV —Populist radical right in Europe’s heartland (Germany, Austria, France) and the UK, European Center for Populism Studies, online.

Allchorn, W., January 2022. Barriers to Violence Activism on the Contemporary UK Far Right: The Case of the (Democratic) Football Lads Alliance. Annual Colloquium, European Society of Criminology, Working Group on Radicalization, Extremism, and Terrorism.

Allchorn, W., Belanger, J., May 2022. Do Counter-Narratives Reduce Support for the Violent Radical Right? Testing Radical Right Counter-Narratives among Right-Wing Audiences in Australia and the United States. Hedayah International CVE Conference, Granada, Spain.

Allchorn, W., November 2021. Teaching about Radicalism & Hate: The Importance of Contextualisation, Critical Engagement and Trigger Warnings. Teaching and Researching the Extreme Webinar, Gale, online.

Allchorn, W., February 2021. Tackling Hate in the Homeland’: US Radical Right Extremism at a Time of Renewed Anti-Government Extremism. Richmond State, Power and Globalisation Research Centre, online research webinar.

Allchorn, W., April 2020. Tackling New Far-Right Extremist Narratives Globally. Tech Against Terrorism Online VXRW Event.

Allchorn, W., January 2020. Tackling New Far-Right Extremist Narratives Globally: Threats & Realities in UK, Australia and New Zealand. Non-State Actor Governance Conference, Kings College, London.

Allchorn, W., December 2019. Tackling Violent Far Right Extremist Narratives Globally: A Preliminary Threat Assessment. GIFCT-Tech Against Terrorism, London, UK.

Allchorn, W., October 2019. Tackling Far Right Counter Narratives Globally: A Preliminary Report. Hedayah International CVE Conference, Melbourne, Australia.

Allchorn, W., October 2019. Beyond Islamist Extremism: Assessing Far Right Counter Narratives. Research Seminar Presentation at Richmond, the International American University, London.

Allchorn, W., May 2019. Anti-Islamic Protest in the UK: Policy Responses to the Far Right. Research Seminar Presentation at Centre for Right-Wing Extremism (CREX), University of Oslo.

Allchorn, W., April 2019. Countering Extremism Online. Roundtable event at M&C Saatchi, London.

Allchorn, W., March 2019. Global Education Forum on the Radical Right in the Global Context. School of Education, American University, Washington D.C.

Media experience

Over the past several years, William has given expert commentary on events pertaining the radical-right extremism in local, national and international newspapers and broadcasters, including the BBC, The Independent, Vox, and The Washington Post.