Radicals, Revolutionaries, and Terrorists (original) (raw)
Related papers
Radicalisation and de-radicalisation of social movements: The comeback of political Islam?
2013
Forty years after Mathiesen wrote the ‘politics of abolition’ his work can enhance our understanding about radicalisation and de-radicalisation of social movements and terrorist groups. In ‘the politics of abolition’ Mathiesen explains the mechanism of two social factors that moderate the most contested goals and means of abolitionists groups. Due to these mechanisms, abolitionist movements often split into one rather moderate and one ‘radical’ current. The Islamist movement is an empirical example for the split the model predicts. Jihadism (e.g. al-Qaeda and its affiliated groups) represents the most radical form of contemporary Islamism, while nationalist Islamism (e.g. the Muslim Brotherhood) and non-jihadi fundamentalism (mainstream Salafism) can be considered less radical because these currents either dismissed their abolitionist goals in favour of political integration, or reject terrorist violence as a means to enforce abolitionist goals. The communiqués and public statements of al-Qaeda give insight into the discourse within the Islamist movement. A sample of jihadi media is reviewed in this article as to compare al-Qaeda’s political positions with those of other Islamist movements and organisations.
The Contribution of Social Movement Theory to Understanding Terrorism
Sociology Compass, 2008
The study of terrorism and political violence has been characterized by a lack of generalizable theory and methodology. This essay proposes that social movement theory can contribute a necessary conceptual framework for understanding terrorism and thus reviews the relevant literature and discusses possible applications. Terrorism is a form of contentious politics, analyzable with the basic social movement approach of mobilizing resources, political opportunity structure, and framing. Cultural perspectives call attention to issues of collective identity that allow for sustained militancy, and movement research recommends alternative conceptions of terrorist networks. Previous research on movement radicalization, repression, and cycles of contention has direct bearing on militancy. Emerging perspectives on transnational collective action and the diffusion of tactics and issues informs an understanding of contemporary international terrorism. Research on movement outcomes suggests broader ways of considering the efficacy of political violence. Finally, methodological debates within the study of social movements are relevant for research on terrorism. In sum, a social movement approach to terrorism has much to contribute, and research on terrorism could have important extensions and implications for social movement theory.
“Terrorism,” a word rife with definitional dispute, is embedded within a process which labels some acts of political violence as "extremism," “insurgency,” or legitimate defense within the national interest. For the purpose of academic discussion, terrorism is a collection of strategic and tactical means, a ‘weapons system,’ utilizing diverse forms of violence understood to be legitimate or illegitimate depending on the positionality of the labeling entity. In order to untangle this definitional puzzle, the course will explore a number of modern political campaigns, which collectively examined constitute a range of political violence. Throughout this interdisciplinary examination, special attention will be paid to issues of gender roles, positionality, movement structure, “continuums of involvement,” online networking and outreach, communiqués and other forms of propaganda, and the connections between radical ideology and counter/anti-Statist praxis. Through a combination of traditional lectures, experimental group activities, and in-class discussion, students will scrutinize terrorism as a discourse and tactical “tool set” utilized by States, quasi-States and non-State actors (NSAs) challenging State authority. These questions will be addressed through an exploration of the case histories, ideologies, and strategies of NSAs including the Palestinians armed and non-violent movements, and in the US, the Animal/Earth Liberation Front, as well as neo-Nazi/white supremacist and anti-abortion movements.
Radicalism Within the Context of Social Movements: Processes and Types
In this article we review the contributions that social movement and social conversion literatures have made to the sociological understandings of radicalization. We focus particular attention to the elements present within social movements that may facilitate the development of a radical identity, as well as examining the social process by which activists may convert to a radical identity. For support of our arguments, we draw upon the established literature as well as the ethnographic research and experiences of the two authors. We conclude that radicalization is a process that can be facilitated by the same aspects of social movements that enable the development of collective identities, but that radicalism does not have a single unitary path, but rather a variety of potential outcomes.
Islamic "New Social Movements"? Radical Islam, AL-QA'IDA and Social Movement Theory
Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 2006
European new social movement (NSM) theory was developed to describe and explain the apparently unique character of the wave of collective action that began in the 1960s and continues to this day. Key characteristics of NSM theory are a post-industrial orientation, middle-class activist core, loose organizational form, use of symbolic direct actions, creation of new identities, and a "self-limiting radicalism." The theory's claims to movement innovation were later criticized by many as exaggerated and ahistorical. However, the filtering down of key NSM elements into social movement studies has led to changing definitions of what social movements actually are and opened up new opportunities for the integration of religious movements into the social movements mainstream. Using the case of radical Islam, and with particular reference to the terrorist social movement organization al-Qa'ida, this article argues that drawing on key features of NSM theory should lead to a ...
This course addresses the broad phenomenon of political violence encompassing: processes of individual and collective radicalization, civil war dynamics, communal violence, armed movements' consolidation and rebel governance, and the role of the state in exacerbating or diminishing conflictual dynamics. Building on relationally informed social movement studies, it will discuss phenomena as distinct as the significance of mental illness in radicalisation, the role of friendship in mobilization, the IRA's urban mobilization, state violence and torture in Turkey and Tamil Tiger state building efforts in Sri Lanka and much more. It can be roughly divided into three overlapping focuses: a) Radicalization – relational dynamics which lead to a progression from non-violent activism to the endorsement and/or use of violence at the individual and collective levels. b) Armed conflict and Insurgent movement emergence and consolidation – under which structural conditions do groups turn to violence and how do they survive? c) Rebel Governance – the broader repertoire of insurgent contention, what importance should be attributed to the non-armed actions (service provision, revolutionary courts etc.) of insurgent groups The objective of this course is to obtain a general understanding of political violence, when it emerges and which forms it takes? At the end of the course students will have a strong familiarity with literature on violence from the areas of social movement studies, the field of terrorism and the literature on civil wars. The course will draw heavily on the conflicts on which I have most expertise; the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, in Ireland and in Colombia. It will however draw in historical and contemporary examples from across the globe. The research findings of a recent research consortium (PRIME) of which I was a member, on Lone Actor Extremism will also be featured. Students are strongly encouraged to apply the theoretical debates covered in the course to conflicts or case studies of their own interest that are not directly featured in the syllabus.