Jeffrey Kaplan (academic)

Jeffrey Kaplan (March 23, 1954 – March 12, 2025) was an American academic who has written and edited a number of books on racism, religious violence, terrorism and the far-right. He was an associate professor of religion at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh and a member of the board of academic advisors of the university's Institute for the Study of Religion, Violence and Memory.^[1]

Jeffrey Kaplan
Kaplan in 2023
Born	(1954-03-23)March 23, 1954 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Died	March 12, 2025(2025-03-12) (aged 70) Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Professor, author
Known for	Research on extremism
Academic background
Education	Colorado State University (M.A., 1981) Tufts University (M.A., 1989) University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1993)
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Academic work
Institutions	University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh

Kaplan formerly sat on the editorial boards of the journals Terrorism and Political Violence, Nova Religio and The Pomegranate.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Kaplan was born March 23, 1954, in Denver, Colorado, to parents Arthur and Shyrle Gladstone Kaplan. He had one younger brother.^[3][4]

He earned an M.A. in Linguistics from Colorado State University in 1981, an M.A. in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) in 1989, and earned a Ph.D. in the history of culture from the University of Chicago in 1993.^[5][2] His thesis was titled "Revolutionary Millenarianism in the Modern World: From Christian Identity to Gush Emunim".^[6]

Career

Kaplan was an associate professor of history at Iḷisaġvik College in Utqiagvik, Alaska.^[7]

Kaplan was awarded a Guggenheim Foundation Research Grant for a project on "The Emergence of a Violent Euro-American Radical Right" with Leonard Weinberg.^[8] Kaplan occupied the Bicentennial Fulbright Chair in American Studies at the University of Helsinki in Finland from 1998 to 1999.^[9]

Death

Kaplan died on March 12, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina, from complications of leukemia. He was aged 70.^[4][10][2]

Publications

• ——; Weinberg, Leonard (1998). The Emergence of a Euro-American Radical Right. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-2563-2.
• ——; Bjørgo, Tore, eds. (1998). Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-332-9.
• ——, ed. (2000). Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7425-0340-2.
• —— (2000). Beyond the Mainstream: The Emergence of Religious Pluralism in Finland, Estonia, and Russia. Helsinki: SKS. ISBN 95-1746-180-1.
• —— (2001). Radical Religion in America: Millenarian Movements From the Far Right to the Children of Noah. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2687-8.
• ——; Lööw, Heléne, eds. (2002). The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7591-0203-1.
• ——, ed. (2002). Millennial Violence: Past, Present and Future. London; Portland: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-5294-6.
• Taylor, Bron; ——, eds. (2005). The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. London; New York: Thoemmes Continuum. ISBN 1-84371-138-9.
• —— (2010). Terrorist Groups and the New Tribalism: Terrorism's Fifth Wave. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-45338-7.
• —— (2015). Radical Religion and Violence: Theory and Case Studies. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-81414-0.