Sociology 3363F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Point Process, Group Dynamics, Radicalization
24 May 2018
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Radicalization The Evolution of an Analytical Paradigm
- Radicalization has become prevent analytical paradigm to interpret/explain political violence in jihadists terrorism
and Western ‘foreign fighters’ in Syria and Iraq
o The concept rose out of ‘home-grown’ terrorism in Western countries
- Previously radicalization focused on the gradual adoption of ‘extremist’ idea and that promote and lead to acts of
terrorism through a cognitive and ideological transformation at the individual level
- Greater attention needs to be on the meso-level of radical movements
The Purpose of this Article
- Examines the main stands of developed research on radicalization and the evolution of the term
Conceptual Fault-lines
- Radicalization as various reviews have said, is a contested concept that has been conceived in very different ways
and is often used in a vague sense
o What is considered ‘radical’ rests on what is considered ‘normal’
- Main fault lines:
o What are the nature and end point process of radicalization?
▪ Radicalization as a social process via a particular event – then what is escalation?
▪ Can be conceived of in terms of two kinds of changes: 1) transformation of aims, attitudes and
perceptions 2) changes in forms of activism and action
▪ Radicalization can be known as an adoption of beliefs or behaviour
o Second, the term may refer to different actors, individuals or collectives as well as groups in conflict
o Last, radicalization can be understood as a process within different kinds of conflicts and social situations
like inter-group conflicts or protests
- These questions touch on the epistemological foundation of the process of radicalization and the emergence of
violence are analyzed and explained
- The escalation of conflict and individual pathways towards high-risk activism: the concept of radicalization in
research on social movements and political violence
o Radicalization emerged from research on violence in the context of social movements of the 1960s and
70s to emphasize the dynamic nature of these processes
o Therefore, radicalization is a shift towards more violent action in groups but in respect to individual
trajectories towards activism and imbedded in a social/political context
Radicalization at the Collective Level: Relational Dynamics and Process of Escalation
- Ideological explanations rely on simplistic assumptions about the relationship between aims and chosen means
o Violence arose out of interaction between social movements and their opponents in patterns of protest,
policing and repression
o Dynamics of escalation are linked to patterns of organizational radicalization where environmental
conditions trigger organizational processes that favor diffusion of violence
o Self-reinforcing and the processes of escalation/radicalization become vicious cycles in which spirals of
negative feedback in sequence of actions and reactions produce unintended effects and replace the actor’s
original objectives
o Understanding radicalization means understanding the perception of the enemy which a cognitive
dynamic of radicalization is
- The relational approach to collective radicalization and escalation has been further developed with comparative
research covering more diverse sets of cases and with the growing influence of contentious politics
o Basic approach of this was to understand recurring casual mechanisms in context-specific outcomes
shaped by radicalization/escalation
o Escalating policing refers to the reciprocal adaptation of forms of policing and repertoires of protests n
o Competitive Escalation is a mechanism that emerges from a dynamic of competition between different
groups IN THE SAME MOVMEENT
o Organizational Compartmentalization refers to patterns of increasing social isolation and detachment
and;
o Ideological Encapsulation is a cognitive dynamic that triggers a shift towards more exclusive ideological
frameworks
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- What characterizes the perspective on (collective) radicalization in this line of research is the emphasis on
relational dynamics in explaining violence with an understanding of violence as emergent
- This implies the analytical embedding of radical movements and militant groups within a broader relational field
of actors involved in political conflict
- Radicalization is understood to imply a process of cognitive transformation without considering both to be
identical
o Patterns of radicalization are thought to be a result from interactions of environmental, cognitive and
relational mechanisms although primarily concerns with cognitive dynamics
o Cognitive are interpreted both collectively and individually
- Identity is a transformation of notions of collective identity an as processes of identification which is placed at the
centre of inter-group conflicts
- Free spaces denote small-scale setting in communities that are removed from the control of authorities and play a
crucial role in allowing for movement activism that generate the cultural challenge that precedes political
mobilization and facilitates the formation of mobilizing networks
Individual Pathways of radicalization
- Individual participation is due to pathologies
o Emph on interpersonal processes and relational dimensions of radicalization
o Individual trajectories are linked to social context and ‘micro mobilization settings’ as well as examining
the effects of broader processes of escalation on individual motivations/pathways
- Theoretical element of this literature is mobilization via pre-existing social ties which refers to the consistent
finding that participation in movements is often initiated via personal ties to the involvement
o Interpersonal networks are important at later stages of the process
o ‘low risk’ activist can pave the path to ‘high-risk’ forms which entails the process of socialization which
leads to adopting views, beliefs and values, identities
o Motivation for participation are no pre-existing but formed in the processes
- Porta says personal networks alone cannot explain radicalization
o Ties only allows a partial explanation of individual motivations since they cannot account for specific
form that social networks take - we need to examine the environmental conditions that make an individual
receptive to the use of political violence (ie effects of state repression and confrontations with
countermovement’s on individuals and their experience of activism)
o Radicalization is not just an abstract ideological process but a lived experience of activism which is
inseparable to boarder processes of escalation
Research on Jihadists Terrorism and the Evolution of the Field of Radical studies’
- ‘radicalization studies’ emerged after 9/11 and was influenced by post 2005 social movements and political
violence
- Focuses primarily on jihadist radicalization and on individual dispositions/trajectories imbedded in group
dynamics while paying little attention to collective radicalization and their broader political contexts
o Individual pathways seemed to be linked indirectly to collective processes of radicalization and thus were
irrelevant
Pathways towards home-grown terrorism: the emergence of ‘master narrative’ of jihadists radicalizations
- ‘master narratives’ of radicalization formed out of empirical research on jihadist radicalization between 2005 and
2009 influenced by Marc Sagement and Quitan Bhatt
o Sagemen introduced a standard-approach method to study radicalization that emphasized the role of
social ties, small group-dynamics and networks, drawing on elements of social movement theory, network
analysis as well as research on new religious movements – he states personal and socioeconomic
background have little values, but it is their ties to jihadists that is important
▪ Therefore, pre-existing ties are important to connecting individuals to radical networks
▪ Radicalization takes place in group-processes within cliques of friends who form strong bonds
and generate small group dynamics that transform individual perceptions and values
▪ Several cognitive and ideological elements of radicalization that precede or evolve within an
individual’s integration into radicalization
• Moral outrage at the discrimination or suffering of Muslims, the belief that a war is being
wages on Islam and resonance with personal experience
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Document Summary
Radicalization has become prevent analytical paradigm to interpret/explain political violence in jihadists terrorism and western foreign fighters" in syria and iraq: the concept rose out of home-grown" terrorism in western countries. Previously radicalization focused on the gradual adoption of extremist" idea and that promote and lead to acts of terrorism through a cognitive and ideological transformation at the individual level. Greater attention needs to be on the meso-level of radical movements. Examines the main stands of developed research on radicalization and the evolution of the term. Radicalization as various reviews have said, is a contested concept that has been conceived in very different ways and is often used in a vague sense: what is considered radical" rests on what is considered normal". These questions touch on the epistemological foundation of the process of radicalization and the emergence of violence are analyzed and explained.
