I am a Ph.D. student supervised by Prof. Stephen Reicher and funded by the school of psychology.

We are interested in understanding the basis of extreme hatred between groups. Why and how are groups of people convinced to commit extreme acts of violence? Based on previous research on prejudice, we sought to show how genocide is not only sanctioned but glorified in the name of virtue. Thus, emerged the second question: Why are certain negative representations of out-groups put forth? And by whom? Hence, leadership and modes of communication form an integral part of this research. This work is grounded in social identity theory and expands on current explanations of self-categorization theory. We hope to propose a Social Identity model of understanding the ways in which it becomes possible to sanction genocide in the name of virtue, and dynamics of intra-group struggles contextualized in inter-group conflicts.

The site of research is India, and we analyse different modes of communication (through political speeches, leaflets, posters) of Hindu nationalists.