Beyond Borders: Subcultural Theory and the Transnational Jihadi Identity in Europe

Ahmed, Reem; Pisoiu, Daniela

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-46855-6_10

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…A large proportion of contemporary European jihadists have a history of street crime (Bakker, 2011; Basra and Neumann, 2016; Lakhani, 2020; Rostami et al, 2020), which can be broadly defined as property, violent and drug crimes that often take place publicly, usually committed by those who are economically, educationally and socially marginalized (Hallsworth, 2005). Existing research demonstrates the extent to which the movement from ‘conventional’ street crime to violent politico-religious jihad is not linear or rational but instead a haphazard combination of the desperate search for respect, status, meaning and excitement (Ahmed and Pisoiu, 2017; Cottee and Hayward, 2011; Ilan and Sandberg, 2019; Roy, 2017). The phenomenon is not limited to Europe but can be seen in several African countries as well (Jensen and Vigh, 2018; Lewis and Diarra, 2012).…”

Section: From Crime-terror Nexus To Street-jihadi Spectrummentioning

confidence: 99%

The street-jihadi spectrum: Marginality, radicalization, and resistance to extremism

Sandberg

Tutenges

Ilan

2023

European Journal of Criminology

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For over a decade, jihadi terrorism in Europe, and the recruitment of Europeans to fight for ISIS in Syria, have increasingly involved marginalized youths from a social context of street culture, illegal drug use and crime. Existing theoretical models of the crime-terrorism nexus and radicalization arguably do not sufficiently explain the fluid and dynamic ways by which the street cultural come to be politico-religiously violent. This paper provides a novel retheorization, the street-jihadi spectrum, which is better placed to explain a wide range of behaviours, from the merely stylistic to the spectacularly violent. On the street culture end it includes subcultural play with provocative jihadi symbols and on the jihadi end the terrorism of ‘gangster-jihadists’. We emphasize that the spectrum, consisting of a multitude of confluences of street and jihadi cultures, also includes resistance to jihadism.

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Section: From Crime-terror Nexus To Street-jihadi Spectrummentioning

confidence: 99%

The street-jihadi spectrum: Marginality, radicalization, and resistance to extremism

Sandberg

Tutenges

Ilan

2023

European Journal of Criminology

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“…A recent body of literature has explored the analytical purchase of viewing recent formations of jihadism in the West from a subcultural perspective (Ahmed and Pisoiu, 2017; Andersen and Sandberg, 2020; Conti, 2017; Cottee, 2011, 2020; Hemmingsen, 2015; Jensen and Larsen, 2021; Larsen and Jensen, 2019; Pisoiu, 2015; Sunde et al, 2020). This perspective has many advantages.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rap, Islam and Jihadi Cool: The attractions of the Western jihadi subculture

Jensen¹,

Larsen

Sandberg

2021

Crime, Media, Culture

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Recent scholarship has explored the potential of subcultural theory for understanding the convergence of Western street and jihadi subcultures. The role of jihadi rap in this radical hybrid culture, however, is yet uncharted. We argue that subcultural analysis allows an understanding of the aesthetic fascination of jihadism, sometimes referred to as jihadi cool, and that jihadi rap should be seen as an integrated part of this cultural amalgam. To better understand the role of hip-hop in the hybrid street-jihadi culture, this paper offers a historical analysis of the relationship between hip-hop and Islam and detailed insight into the more contemporary, and marginal, phenomena of jihadi rap. We track the continuities and discontinuities from the presence of Black Islam in early hip hop to recent convergences between hip hop and jihadism. Our analysis draws on Lévi-Strauss concepts of bricolage and floating signifiers. Subcultures and hip-hop music are seen as bricolages that draw on a multitude of cultural references with their own particular history. In these cultural bricolages, Islam often acts as a floating signifier, with different and often ambiguous meanings. We argue and demonstrate that Islam has a long history of being part of hip-hop rebellion and attraction and that this, channelled through jihadi rap, can contribute to jihadi cool and the contemporary pull of Western jihadi subcultures.

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Introduction: Conducting Research on Militant Activist Da˓wa in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

Koning

Becker

Roex³

2020

Islamic Militant Activism in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

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Beyond Borders: Subcultural Theory and the Transnational Jihadi Identity in Europe

Cited by 5 publications

References 18 publications

The street-jihadi spectrum: Marginality, radicalization, and resistance to extremism

The street-jihadi spectrum: Marginality, radicalization, and resistance to extremism

Rap, Islam and Jihadi Cool: The attractions of the Western jihadi subculture

Introduction: Conducting Research on Militant Activist Da˓wa in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany

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