Propagation of radical ideas in societies with memory: competition between radical strength and social cohesion

TL;DR

This paper models how radical groups evolve in societies with memory, revealing how social cohesion and proselytism influence their persistence or disappearance, with implications for intervention strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a fractional derivative dynamical model to analyze radical group dynamics considering societal memory and cohesion effects, offering new insights into radical persistence.

Findings

Higher societal memory reduces maximum radical proportion.

Radical groups can persist longer with increased memory levels.

Intervention strategies can lead to radical group disappearance.

Abstract

Based on a dynamical model with fractional derivatives we show that the evolution of radical groups in a society with a memory depends mainly on the active proselytism of radical groups and the level of cohesion in social networks. We find the conditions that determine that the radical group either disappears or, on the contrary, achieves a permanent significant expression. We also discuss the possible intervention strategies on the susceptible population and show the conditions that lead to the disappearance of radical groups. We see that the higher the level of memory, the maximum proportion of radicals decreases, but those groups manage to maintain their presence in society during a larger period of time.