Shane Hodgson | University of Buckingham (original) (raw)

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Papers by Shane Hodgson

Grateful thanks to the staff of the Rand Afrikaans University, especially Rita Kellerman (for tal... more Grateful thanks to the staff of the Rand Afrikaans University, especially Rita Kellerman (for talking me into this), Jannie Zaaiman (for supervising my dissertation) and Karel Stanz (for his dual roles as the project manager of the course and as a fellow student).

Thesis Chapters by Shane Hodgson

Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, 2019

Understanding what drives “radicalisation” of people, and specifically how they are voluntarily d... more Understanding what drives “radicalisation” of people, and specifically how they are voluntarily drawn into violent enterprise in sub-Saharan Africa will help us develop more specific ways to counteract this. At present we are constrained by approaches developed in Europe, which may not be entirely applicable elsewhere.

The literature on the causes of this phenomenon (Radicalisation to Violent Extremism, RVE) is fragmented, and no one theory dominates. We are not sure if the same pathway to violence is followed in different geographies, nor are we certain of the degree of consistency and homogeneity of the various underlying factors of radicalisation into
extremist violence. In fact, according to a long-running project at the University of Amsterdam entitled SAFIRE (Scientific Approach to Finding Indicators for & Responses to Radicalisation) “...more than 200 different factors have been identified by research which could play a role in
the radicalisation process” (SAFIRE, 2013).

The research itself focuses, as best as possible, on examining studies of the causes of individuals becoming radicalised to the commission of acts of extremist politico-religious violence, omitting far-right; far-left and criminal violence.
This study draws for methodology on work done analysing processual models of radicalisation by Stephanie De Coensel (2018); derives a meta-model of the factors influencing RVE for the Western World (as applied in Europe) and compares it with what we know of sub-Saharan Africa.
Clear differences were found between the meta-model derived for RVE in Europe and the general themes emerging from the studies in sub-Saharan Africa, most notably in the factors pushing individuals toward a pathway leading to radicalisation to extremist violence. This provides indications for the need to have different approaches to counter-extremism interventions in the two regions.

Grateful thanks to the staff of the Rand Afrikaans University, especially Rita Kellerman (for tal... more Grateful thanks to the staff of the Rand Afrikaans University, especially Rita Kellerman (for talking me into this), Jannie Zaaiman (for supervising my dissertation) and Karel Stanz (for his dual roles as the project manager of the course and as a fellow student).

Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, 2019

Understanding what drives “radicalisation” of people, and specifically how they are voluntarily d... more Understanding what drives “radicalisation” of people, and specifically how they are voluntarily drawn into violent enterprise in sub-Saharan Africa will help us develop more specific ways to counteract this. At present we are constrained by approaches developed in Europe, which may not be entirely applicable elsewhere.

The literature on the causes of this phenomenon (Radicalisation to Violent Extremism, RVE) is fragmented, and no one theory dominates. We are not sure if the same pathway to violence is followed in different geographies, nor are we certain of the degree of consistency and homogeneity of the various underlying factors of radicalisation into
extremist violence. In fact, according to a long-running project at the University of Amsterdam entitled SAFIRE (Scientific Approach to Finding Indicators for & Responses to Radicalisation) “...more than 200 different factors have been identified by research which could play a role in
the radicalisation process” (SAFIRE, 2013).

The research itself focuses, as best as possible, on examining studies of the causes of individuals becoming radicalised to the commission of acts of extremist politico-religious violence, omitting far-right; far-left and criminal violence.
This study draws for methodology on work done analysing processual models of radicalisation by Stephanie De Coensel (2018); derives a meta-model of the factors influencing RVE for the Western World (as applied in Europe) and compares it with what we know of sub-Saharan Africa.
Clear differences were found between the meta-model derived for RVE in Europe and the general themes emerging from the studies in sub-Saharan Africa, most notably in the factors pushing individuals toward a pathway leading to radicalisation to extremist violence. This provides indications for the need to have different approaches to counter-extremism interventions in the two regions.