Here are some extracts from an excellent article by Kenan Malik on the theme of radicalization:
'What is meant by radicalization? And is it a useful concept?
The idea of radicalization has come into use only over the past decade. In the 1990s few academic or policy discussions about terrorism mentioned the concept. After 9/11, however, there was a recognition of the need for a new language. As Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at Kings College, London put it:
Following the attacks against the United States on 11 September 2001, however, it suddenly became very difficult to talk about the ‘roots of terrorism’, which some commentators claimed was an effort to excuse and justify the killing of innocent civilians… So experts and officials started referring to the idea of ‘radicalisation’ whenever they wanted to talk about ‘what goes on before the bomb goes off’.
Radicalization, in other words, is code for ‘that which cannot be spoken about’. And that which cannot be spoken about gets spoken about only by rendering reality into an acceptable form, and by reducing complexity into a simple narrative.
That narrative consists broadly of four elements: First, the claim that people become terrorists because they acquire certain, usually religiously informed, extremist ideas. Second, that these ideas are acquired in a different way to the way people acquire other extremist or oppositional ideas, such as , say, Marxism or anarchism, or mainstream ideas such as conservatism or liberalism Third, that there is a ‘conveyor belt’ that leads from grievance or personal crisis to religiosity to the adoption of radical beliefs to terrorism And, fourth, the insistence that what makes people vulnerable to acquiring such ideas is that they are poorly integrated into society.
There is, however, little evidence in support of any of these four elements of radicalization, and considerable evidence to suggest that all are untrue. Many studies show, for instance, perhaps surprisingly and counter-intuitively, that those who are drawn to jihadi groups are not necessarily attracted by fundamentalist religious ideas.
Far from being religious zealots, a large number of those involved in terrorism do not practise their faith regularly. Very few have been brought up in strongly religious households, and there is a higher than average proportion of converts.
Marc Sageman, a former CIA operation officer with the Afghan mujahidin in the late 1980s, and now an academic and counter-terrorism consultant to the US and other governments, similarly finds that ‘a lack of religious literacy and education appears to be a common feature among those that are drawn to [terrorist] groups.’ ‘At the time they joined jihad’, Sageman observes, ‘terrorists were not very religious. They only became religious once they joined the jihad.’
John Horgan, director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Pennsylvania State University, notes the host of non-ideological ‘littler reasons’ for the attraction of jihadi groups such as ‘personal fantasy, seeking adventure, camaraderie, purpose, identity.’ ‘These lures’, he argues, ‘can be very powerful, especially when you don’t necessarily have a lot else going on in your life, but terrorists rarely talk about them.’ Similarly, the anthropologist Scott Atran, testifying at a US Senate hearing on ‘Emerging Threats’, observed the importance to jihadists of ‘seeking out companionship, esteem, and meaning, but also the thrill of action, sense of empowerment, and glory in fighting the world’s most powerful nation and army.’
The full text of Malik's article is here:
https://kenanmalik.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/radiclization-is-not-so-simple/
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