Ideological Counter-Narrative as a Response to Fundamentalist Ideology in Europe and South Asia. An Analysis of Selected Cases in Their Cultural Context and an Outline of Recommended Activities (original) (raw)
Related papers
2017
A radical Salafist ideology is attractive to people, especially young people, looking for simple solutions to solve the serious socioeconomic problems with which they cannot cope. Salafism is characterized by a Manichean division of the world on what is good, because it comes from God and what is bad. This in turn implies providing simple answers to complex questions. Actually, the simplest answer to the questions: why the people on Earth live badly? It is the statement "because mankind rejects the law of God revealed in the Qur'an and Sunnah." Therefore, the restoration of these foundations is the only one and the simplest way to solve all problems of mankind. The road to this seems to be simple: total war against "infidels and apostates". The Salafi mullahs as the custodians of “true Faith” have only right to decide who is “infidel of apostate”... Young people undergo indoctrination via the Internet, or in different "Islamic Centres" using freedom of religion (which is something fundamental for the West), are deprived of the ability to take a critical look at the content transmitted. Other are radicalized in prisons. Such circumstances stimulate reflection on the current life of their own, but also may lead to religious radicalism. The question arises: how much we still have to deal with religion as such or if it is a totalitarian political ideology? Of course, Salafism is the offshoot of Islam, but goes far than relations between men and Absolut. From the above reasons can be deduced its totalitarian character. Comparing the proposed by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Carl Friedrich definition of totalitarianism, we can substantiate such thesis. Guiding ideology is here Salafi interpretation of the Quran and Sunnah. Mass party is Salafi movement, which can take the form of a movement or the classic political parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamic State tries to have a monopoly on weapons as much as possible, militarizing male part of the population. The Islamic State monopolizes the mass media, reaching new media as a means of attracting new adepts, and where the Salafists tend to power, contests existing media as "godless" encouraging the use of the Internet and underground publications. An example is the so-called Islamic State (the Daesh). It uses legitimate violence against any actual or alleged opponents of the ruling group, such as not only Christians, or Jews, but also people arbitrarily considered as non-Muslims. For this purpose, they create formations that can be called religious-moral police, and used traditional security institutions as well. Salafi vision of the World resembles a totalitarian concepts which Hannah Arendt writes about, as this interpretation of Islam vividly explains both past, present and forecast the future, and also presents a seemingly logical model of the state of God, which wants to put into practice. If we consider Salafi ideology as totalitarian, then we will need to apply the same methods to combat the Salafi preachers as those used to fight the followers of totalitarian regimes after World War II. Declarations of similar firmness in the fight against "Jihadism" appear at various levels of government of countries such as Germany for many years. However, there is lack of sufficient firmness and consistency in their effectiveness.
Religious fundamentalism and radicalisation
2015
The recent terrorist attacks in Europe and the increasing number of European terrorist 'foreign fighters' highlight the need not only to reinforce the policy measures against radicalisation and religious fundamentalism but also to understand the processes of these two phenomena in the European context. Radicalisation is a complex matter that has not been defined uniformly in the social sciences. It can be seen as a phenomenon of people embracing views which could lead to terrorism, and is closely connected to the notion of extremism. Religious fundamentalism, a belief in an absolute religious ideology with no tolerance for differing interpretations, is a contributing factor to the development of radical opinions. Radicalisation is a dynamic process cutting across social and demographic strata. Recent studies seeking to understand it suggest of the need to profile the processes of recruitment, be it online or in places such as schools, mosques and prisons. The causes of radic...
Violent Radicalization: Beyond Ideology or Religion
Workshop: The Narrative of Islamic violence in History. Creation, artifice and reality, 2018
Narratives that consider Islam as a violent religion have been reinforced in recent times by the rise of jihadism, i.e. those radical Islamist movements that advocate the use of violence through a distorted concept of jihad. At present, jihadism represents a global movement with a considerable popular base of followers even in secular Western societies. One of the characteristics of jihadist organizations is their ability to commit attacks in these Western societies, either directly and deliberately or through inspiring and encouraging the creation of autonomous cells. This fact, on the one hand, has led the respective governments to declare jihadist terrorism as one of the main threats to security. But, on the other hand, it has also contributed to the association between Islam and violence, a tendency that, although clearly erroneous and unjust, often becomes inevitable. However, recent research suggests that the process of violent radicalization of jihadist nature that some individuals experience in Western societies does not differ essentially from other processes based on political or nationalist ideologies. If this hypothesis is confirmed, the different political, religious, etc. contexts where the process of radicalization takes root would lose relevance in favor of the individual and the interpretation he makes of each of them. In other words, the arguments that support the consideration of Islam as a violent religion would lose weight in favor of the misuse, intentional or not, that some individuals make of religion to satisfy their own ends.
THE MULTIFACTORIAL PROCESS OF RADICALISATION TO "JIHADI" FUNDAMENTALISM
The Multifactorial Process of Radicalisation to "Jihadi" Terrorism, 2020
The paper analyses the main factors that trigger radicalisation to "jihadi" fundamentalism from a socio-criminological and geopolitical perspective. The concept of radicalisation and its causes in its potential progression towards terrorist violence will be examined. The conclusion of the paper will pinpoint the flaws of the current strategies of counter-radicalisation and counter-terrorism and will outline some possible preventive ways forward. Table of contents: 1. The concept of radicalisation. – 2. The multiple roots of radicalisation and international terrorism. – 3. The ideological factor. – 4. The political factor. – 4.1. The government of the Middle East territories. – 4.2. The escalation of international conflict: the interventionism of the United States and Europe. – 5. The social factor. – 6. The cultural factor. – 7. The economic factor. – 8. Conclusion.
2015
Islamic ideologies have been, in the recent decades, spread widely across the world, mainly by Muslim immigrants to the West. This has been achieved through means of scholars and preachers, books and mosques. Some individuals and groups have adopted worldviews and ideologies which have not always met eye to eye with their surrounding societies. We find in a very few, however increasing, situations that some individuals have attempted to aggravate any non-conformity that exists between their own ideology and that which surrounds them. In the most extreme cases, we have seen the use of violence and terror against innocent citizens. Research upon this phenomenon has been carried out mostly in Middle-Eastern countries or America, UK and France. Only in recent years do we find this same discussion within other countries and areas, such as Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia. This thesis has aimed to understand the concept of radicalization within the Muslim context, and thereby focused upon...
Understanding Radicalisation: Review of Literature
The phenomena of radicalisation today develop and change at high speed, with their extreme forms manifested globally. The destructive dimensions of (violent) Islamist or right-wing radicalisation have become dramatically visible in Europe posing serious challenges to European societies. This literature review presents key academic conceptualisations and debates on the phenomena оf radicalisation that might lead to violence. It deals with three different forms of radicalisation, including Islamist radicalisation, right-wing as well as left-wing radicalisation. In addition, an overview is provided of current academic debates regarding the role of the internet in radicalisation processes. The review is intended to help social scientists who are entering the field of radicalisation studies navigate through the complexity of underlying processes and factors that lead different individuals or groups to adopt radical ideas and commit acts of violence. The review is particularly relevant for countries of Central and Eastern Europe where radicalisation remains understudied, although most countries in the region share histories of extremism and political radicalism.