Journal for Deradicalization
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Alternative Narratives for Preventing the Radicalization of Muslim Youth
Get PDFThe international jihadist movement has declared war. They have declared war on anybody who does not think and act exactly as they wish they would think and act. We may not like this and wish it would go away, but it’s not going to go away, and the reality is we are going to have to confront it. (Prime Minister Steven Harper, 8 Jan 2015) With an increasing number of Western Muslims falling prey to violent extremist ideologies and joining Jihadi organizations such as Al-Qaida and the ISIS, Western policy makers have been concerned with preventing radicalization of Muslim youth. This has resulted in a number of government sponsored efforts (e.g., MyJihad, Sabahi, and Maghrebia (Briggs and Feve 2013)) to counter extremist propaganda by arguing that extremist violent tactics used by Jihadist organizations are not congruent with Islamic tenets of kindness and just war. Despite the expenditure of significant resources since 2001, these efforts have had limited success. This article argues that in order to succeed we need to better understand Muslim core social identity beliefs (i.e., their perception of what it means to be a good Muslim) and how these beliefs are connected to Muslims perceptions of Westerners. A better understanding of the interdependent nature and dynamics of these beliefs will allow us to design counter radicalization strategies that have a better chance of success
How extremist experiences become valuable knowledge in EXIT programmes.
Get PDFOn the basis of a neo-Vygotskian approach the article analyses how former neo-Nazis, together with other staff at Fryshuset, a youth centre in Stockholm, Sweden, have developed the organisation EXIT, which helps people leave the extremist right. The article describes the processes former neo-Nazis must go through to alter their identity and self-understanding in order to become coaches/mentors capable of supporting others. In this connection, the article also illuminates EXIT’s practice for supporting their clients. The main reason for personal change, the article stresses, is that an individual’s engagement in a social practice alters his/her basis for reflection, allowing an alternative sense of identity to emerge. The reformulation of the individual’s past involved in this process, the article argues, is a requirement for their extremist experiences to become useable knowledge in an organisation like EXIT aimed at helping others leave what they have come to view as a destructive and anti-democratic lifestyle.
Countering Jihadi Radicals and Foreign Fighters in the United States and France: Très Similaire
Get PDFThis article analyzes and compares French and U.S. domestic responses to Jihadi radicalization, placing particular attention on the similarities between the two. In view of the political and cultural differences between the United States and France, the parallels between U.S. and French approaches to homegrown Jihadi radicalization are remarkable. Both countries got off to a late start when formulating counterradicalization strategies. While the underlying reasons (related to, inter alia, the notion of American exceptionalism and the French version of secularism) for this differ, the U.S. introduced its first counterradicalization strategy in 2011, followed by France in 2014. More important, so-called “soft” measures (including phone hotlines, dialogues and workshops, vocational training, targeted interventions, or counseling and exit programs), adopted by most Western democracies in an effort to prevent vulnerable individuals from radicalizing and reintegrate foreign fighters and others who have become infected with the Jihadi virus, have taken a back seat to “hard” security measures (including surveillance, arrests, and prosecutions) in the two countries. These findings have important implications for policymakers. Understanding what responses have been formulated, and also why, can facilitate international cooperation and provide useful insights on the characteristics, strengths, as well as limits of U.S. and French approaches to Jihadi radicals and foreign fighters
Thugs or Terrorists? A Typology of Right-Wing Terrorism and Violence in Western Europe
Get PDFDespite Western Europe’s extensive history of right-wing terrorism, a systematic categorization of key actors and events is lacking. This article aims to narrow this gap by proposing the first empirically derived typology of right-wing terrorism and violence in Western Europe. The article begins by introducing a method for reviewing and developing typologies, informed by relevant social science literature. This method is first used to review Ehud Sprinzak’s seminal typology of right-wing terrorism. While Sprinzak merits recognition for having developed the only universal typology in the field, the review shows that his typology does not satisfy established criteria for typology building. Combining quantitative and qualitative post-WWII data, a new typology is therefore proposed, based on attack frequencies and differences in perpetrators’ strategy and organization. This new typology facilitates sharper distinctions, both between different types of perpetrators and between different forms of violence.
The Searchlight Archive collection at the University of Northampton. A Research Note
Get PDFOpened in the summer of 2013, the Searchlight Archive at the University of Northampton offers researchers one of the largest collections of material on the far right and anti-fascist movements in Europe. The University of Northampton is very grateful to Gerry Gable, Editor of Searchlight Magazine, for allowing us to house this material, and place it in the public domain. Consisting of hundreds of boxes of unique material, with around 350 presently on our catalogue, the archive has already welcomed dozens of researchers (from undergraduate dissertation students to professional academics), and has contributed to numerous articles and papers too. This resource has a wide range of applicability into on-going research into the history and contemporary dynamics of radicalism. So far, researchers have only scratched the surface of its relevance for emergent debates into themes such as networking and transnational forms of extremism, gender and far right activity, and the roles played by civil society in counteracting the impact of ultra-nationalism
It’s About the Group, Not God: Social Causes and Cures for Terrorism
Get PDFThis essay challenges assumptions about the root causes of jihadist terrorism that prioritize political, religious, or economic factors. Drawing on the author’s anecdotal experience interviewing hundreds of accused jihadist terrorists, along with survey data collected from subject matter experts in countering violent extremism (CVE), the essay offers an interpretation for terrorism’s causes and cures that emphasizes social factors. Contrary to narratives popular in the U.S. – both in media and government circles – the lure of terrorism is not a result of political marginalization, economic disadvantage, or even religious indoctrination. It is foremost a sociological phenomenon, created by individuals who seek the insulating security of group identity and affiliation. The real reason why people are drawn to join terrorist groups is the innate need for camaraderie, identity, and a sense of belonging – the pursuit of social satisfaction, not the expression of political or economic frustration, much less the fulfilment of a religious imperative. CVE research that exclusively focuses on the political, economic, or religious causes of terrorism will, at best, over-appraise their significance, and, at worst, distract policymakers from understanding more influential motivators and responding to them accordingly. New directions for research lie in further exploring the sociological underpinnings of jihadist terrorism, as well as validating the effectiveness of social-centred CVE policies already in place
Subculture: The third wave of European jihad
Get PDF The number one concern on the agenda for most European intelligence services has been, for the last couple of years, the issue of the so-called ‘foreign fighters’: individuals travelling from Europe to Syria in order to take part in the holy war – mostly filling the ranks of IS (Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS – Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and Jabhat al-Nusra (The Support Front, an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria). Evidently, the worry of the intelligence services is not so much the fact that these individuals leave, but rather that they might come back, and in particular what they might do when they return. Historically, foreign fighters have not been deemed a potential danger to their country of origin. If at all, their stories would rather be placed in the context of romantic narratives of idealism and sacrifice for the right cause – be it the anti-fascist fight in Spain, or the establishment of the state of Israel. The experiences of Europeans taking part in the Yugoslavian war, be it on the side of the Serbian, Bosnian or Croat military forces almost passed unnoticed and certainly did not unleash the kind of panic ‘Syrian’ fighters currently do.
How Could a Terrorist be De-Radicalised?
Get PDFThis article addresses the potential to de-radicalize a terrorist, and if so how could this be achieved? The article also outlines the distinction between de-radicalization, counter-radicalization and disengagement. In order to understand the potential of de-radicalization techniques, research examines the factors that might lead to initial radicalization. The strategy of some state-based de-radicalization programs, particularly the Saudi Arabian de-radicalization program are examined and the importance of unique tailoring in these programs is identified. The relevance of ideology and life skill training within de-radicalization programs is also examined. The extensive impact that information communication technology has had on radicalization is also addressed and following on, the potential for de-radicalization and counter-radicalization through information communication platforms is also discussed. The importance of an accurate and appropriately delivered counter-narrative message is examined and the value of such a counter-narrative is discussed in terms of it possibly planting the seed of question in a terrorist, which may eventually support the terrorist questioning of terrorist group ideology. Highly relevant to the future de-radicalization of an ‘in organisation’ terrorist is the issue of how states might manage the potential return of terrorists who are known to be overseas and whether the best solution is or is not to prevent the terrorist from returning to a home-country, which is examined within. It could be presumed that a terrorist who is returning to a home-country may face some term of incarceration, as an extension of this issue that states must address, the effect that incarceration might have on a terrorist is also examined. The discussions in this article are relevant to policy-makers, de-radicalization program designers and security sector actors.
Politischer Islamismus und die internationale Politik. Die mobilisierende Rhetorik von Hizb ut-Tahrir (Political Islamism and International Politics. The Mobilising Rhetoric of Hizb ut-Tahrir)
No full textDer folgende Beitrag befasst sich mit der Erfassung islamistischer Radikalisierungsprozesse durch die Rhetorik. Der Protest politischer Islamisten wird anhand von Indikatoren wie Protestaktionen oder einer konfrontativen Rhetorik zur Mobilisierung politischer Gewalt und terroristischer Anschläge gemessen. Das Ziel dieses Beitrages ist, das Gefahrenpotenzial durch politische Islamisten am Beispiel der mobilisierenden Rhetorik der islamistischen Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) besser einzuschätzen.English AbstractThe following article deals with the analysis of Islamic radicalization processes through rhetoric. The protest of political Islamists is measured by indicators such as protest actions or confrontational rhetoric to mobilise political violence and terrorist attacks. The aim of this article is to better assess the potential dangers posed by political Islamists using the example of the mobilising rhetoric of the Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT). The article was written in German
‘Respect – Diversity Football Unites’ UEFA/FARE Program at EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Between Pro-diversity Project and Security Policy Towards Far-right Groups
Get PDFThe overall aim of this article is to present the results of evaluation research of the activities that have been developed and organised as part of the Respect Diversity-Football Unites project, which is a specific program of events developed in conjunction with UEFA as part of Euro 2012, held in Poland and Ukraine.