How Do Individuals Join the Al-Shabaab? An Ethnographic Insight into Recruitment Models for the Al-Shabaab Network in Kenya

Badurdeen, Fathima Azmiya

doi:10.1080/19392206.2021.1963926

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The following is excerpted from the handbook’s entry on al-Shabaab:Women are ‘far more actively involved’ in al-Shabaab in ‘non-combative or indirect roles’ than frontline fighting (Ndung’u, Salifu, & Sigsworth, 2017: 30). Ndung’u, Salifu & Sigsworth (2017: 30–31) conclude that women ‘provide the ‘invisible infrastructure’ for al-Shabaab by enabling, supporting and facilitating violent extremism through a number of roles and activities.’ Female members of the insurgency recruit, fundraise, carry explosives, smuggle weapons, do logistical work to help plan and carry out operations, provide health care, cook, mend clothing, nurse members, fundraise for the group and gather firewood (International Crisis Group, 2019; Donnelly, 2018; Badurdeen, 2018; Donnelly, 2019; Stern, 2019; Stern, 2021). Women are also actively involved in the rebels’ intelligence gathering (Ndung’u, Salifu & Sigsworth, 2017; Petrich & Donnelly, 2019; International Crisis Group, 2019).…”

Section: Exploring Women’s Participation In Rebellionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ngono & Duri, 2016). For example, in Kenya, three women carried out an attack at the Central Police Station in Mombasa (Badurdeen, 2018). In 2015, the Kenyan government identified Rukia Faraj Kufungwa as an al-Shabaab recruiter and fighter responsible for grenade attacks and assassinations (Ndung’u, Salifu & Sigsworth, 2017).…”

Section: Exploring Women’s Participation In Rebellionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Introducing the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) project, 1946–2015

Loken

Matfess

2023

Journal of Peace Research

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This article introduces the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) project, a multi-methods project that includes a cross-sectional dataset of women’s participation in more than 370 organizations fighting in civil conflicts between 1946 and 2015. The dataset features 22 measures of women’s participation in rebel organizations: it includes prevalence and presence measures of women’s participation in combat, non-combat and leadership roles; details on all-female units within groups (and their primary focus – combat or support activities); and presence measures for types of support work (disaggregated into clandestine work, outreach to civilian populations and logistical support) and types of leadership activities (military or non-military) that women contribute. The WAAR project also includes a detailed, qualitative assessment of women’s involvement in each organization, comprising an approximately 360-page handbook of female rebel participation in the post-WWII period. This article describes the WAAR project and suggests avenues for future research leveraging these data.

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Section: Exploring Women’s Participation In Rebellionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Exploring Women’s Participation In Rebellionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introducing the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) project, 1946–2015

Loken

Matfess

2023

Journal of Peace Research

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“…In the coastal region, extremist entrepreneurs thrive by using local narratives of marginalisation and poverty to mobilise their supporters (interview with NGO personnel, Kwale). Supportive relationships between violent extremism networks, such as the alleged MRC link with Al-Shabaab or neighbourhood competition between Al-Shabaab and Isis support bases (open circle discussion, Body Map Workshop, Mombasa), can also spur recruitment (Badurdeen 2021).…”

Section: Violent Extremism As Islamist Extremismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lived realities and local meaning-making in defining violent extremism in Kenya: implications for preventing and countering violent extremism in policy and practice

Badurdeen

Aroussi

Jakala

2022

Critical Studies on Terrorism

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Violent extremism is an ambiguous and politically loaded concept, andat the national levelthe parameters used to define it are usually framed by the state, powerful ruling elites, and members of the international community, either directly or indirectly through donor-funded projects.Although different types of violent extremism and extremist movements exist in Kenya, donors and the state often focus on religion-inspired groups such as Al-Shabaab; the Islamic State; Al-Qaeda; and affiliated networks such as the Al-Muhajiroun, Al-Hijra, and Jaysh Al-Ayman.However, at a community level, participants in our body map workshops highlighted gang violence, police brutality, ethnically motivated violence, marginalisation, discrimination, and gender-based violence as priorities in defining violent extremism. We conclude that constructions of violent extremism at the local level are shaped by lived experiences of everyday insecurities influenced by gender, ethnicity, social status, location, and interactions with the state. To effectively address violent extremism in Kenya and beyond, its definition needs to be contextualised in ways that take into consideration local perspectives and everyday experiences of violence and insecurity.

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“…These incidents have led to mixed claims about Kenyan women's involvement in Al-Shabaab (Ndung'u et al 2017: 20). Research suggests that while some women were pushed into the group by their desire to improve their living conditions (Mwakimako 2018: 51-7;Ali 2018;Badurdeen 2018), others exercised their 'autonomy' by joining Al-Shabaab voluntarily (Badurdeen 2020), while still others recruited fellow women into the group (Badurdeen 2018: 19-20).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When they joined: restricted agency and victimhood in Kenyan women’s pathways into Al-Shabaab

Zitzmann

2023

JBA

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It has been claimed, often without evidence, that women have flocked to Al-Shabaab to work as fundraisers, cooks, intelligence officers, suicide bombers and sex slaves, and have even recruited others into the group. After attacks, such as that on Mombasa's Central Police Station, which have involved women, their motivations have been ascribed to factors including ideological commitment; the desire for financial gain, fame or danger; love; the pursuit of vengeance; curiosity; coercion; and kidnap. Attention paid to women's motives tends to be informed by the perception that women are automatically victims of violence, but the phenomenon is more complex than that. In this article, the testimonies of Kenyan women who have participated in Al-Shabaab's activities are used to explore the complex and multifaceted realities and multiple factors that enabled their mobilisation. Three motivational pathways that led Kenyan women into Al-Shabaab are identified, and Al-Shabaab's mobilisation strategies are also addressed.

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How Do Individuals Join the Al-Shabaab? An Ethnographic Insight into Recruitment Models for the Al-Shabaab Network in Kenya

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Introducing the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) project, 1946–2015

Introducing the Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) project, 1946–2015

Lived realities and local meaning-making in defining violent extremism in Kenya: implications for preventing and countering violent extremism in policy and practice

When they joined: restricted agency and victimhood in Kenyan women’s pathways into Al-Shabaab

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