Dr Bethan Johnson graduated from the University of Cambridge with a PhD in History and an MPhil in Modern British History. Her research explores the interlocking threads of identity, nationalism, and terroristic violence.
Dr Johnson is currently researching the contemporary far-right in Western nations, with a particular emphasis on extremism and terrorism. She has undertaken work for the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism and the European Commission, received the Terrorism Research Award, and is the commissioning editor of the forthcoming book series Analyzing Political Violence.
Her doctorate examined the ideological foundations of violent ethno-nationalist separatist movements in Western Europe and North America in the mid-Cold War era. It demonstrated how leaders of violent movements constructed nativist and counter-hegemonic narratives through the exploitation of socio-political tensions about globalisation and inequality to spur violence.