How ‘gangsters’ become jihadists: Bourdieu, criminology and the crime–terrorism nexus

Abstract

A background in ‘ordinary’ crime, violence and drug use seems to characterize many European individuals recently involved in ISIS-related jihadi violence. With its long tradition of studying marginalized populations and street culture, criminology offers novel ways to explore these developments theoretically. In this article, we demonstrate how Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus and field allow for a nuanced analysis of how certain individuals move from street to politico-religious criminality. We show that ‘investments’ in street capital can be expended within the field of violent jihadism. We argue that an embodied street habitus supports continuities in attitudes and behaviours within different violent contexts, and furthermore that street social capital facilitates recruitment to violent jihadism. Finally, reflection is offered on resonances between street and jihadi fields. The article explains how continuities in lifestyle can exist between the European city and a Middle Eastern battleground.

Resilience in the Face of Victimization: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Dealing With Harms and Hurts Among Street-Involved Individuals Who Smoke Crack Cocaine

“…Although many participants in our study engage in crime and violence, our focus is on their lived experiences of dealing with crime victimization. Moreover, many studies that use the concepts of street habitus, street capital, and street social capital focus on what it takes to thrive in the street field (e.g., crime business, selling drugs, gang violence; Fraser, 2013; Ilan, 2013, Ilan & Sandberg, 2019; Sandberg & Fleetwood, 2017; Sandberg & Pedersen, 2011), whereas we apply these concepts to consider what it takes to survive at the bottom of street hierarchies. Parkin (2013) similarly investigates the perspectives of PWUD in dominated positions, examining their struggle in the context of public injecting.…”

“…Indeed, contemporary Bourdieusian criminology has tackled a variety of topics: crime, violence, harm reduction, policing, the penal system, homelessness, juvenile delinquency, gangs, drug dealing, and drug use (Barker, 2016;Bourgois & Schonberg, 2009;Chan, 2004;Draus & Carlson, 2009;Fairbairn et al, 2008;Fleetwood, 2014;Grundetjern & Sandberg, 2012;Ilan, 2015;Jensen, 2006;Macit, 2018;Pih et al, 2008;Prieur, 2018;Thornton, 1995;Ugwudike, 2017;Winlow & Hall, 2009). Typically, researchers engage with one or two of Bourdieu's concepts in isolation, whereas there are fewer studies that use a comprehensive theory of practice approach (Crawshaw & Bunton, 2009;Ilan & Sandberg, 2019;Moyle & Coomber, 2017;Parkin, 2013).…”

“…He saw street culture as a lifestyle based on drug dealing, violence, substance use, and internalized rage which provided an alternative means for acquiring respect and dignity for street-involved individuals (Bourgois, 2003;Sandberg, 2008b). Based on this, Shammas and Sandberg (2016) describe the street field as an arena where embodying the values, norms, and competencies of street culture and engaging in deviant practices allow for advancement (gaining status; Ilan & Sandberg, 2019). The street field is a relatively autonomous space, with barriers to entry and exit (the latter often being substantially higher, e.g., barriers of having a criminal record), its boundaries are an object of struggle, and it is situated in a "subordinate position" in the social space (Shammas & Sandberg, 2016).…”

“…Fraser (2013) investigated the “street habitus” of marginalized young men in Glasgow, by exploring their experiences of territorial gang identities and ritualized violence in the context of place attachment. Street habitus is a set of preconscious bodily postures, modes of speech, and embodiment of “deviant” values that are “at once valorized and produced by time spent in the field” (Fraser, 2013; Ilan & Sandberg, 2019; Shammas & Sandberg, 2016, p. 205).…”

“…Sandberg (2008a, 2008b) developed the concept of street capital, as the cultural capital of street culture, which constitutes the knowledge, skills, competencies, dispositions, bodily postures, acquisitions, and objects which are necessary to successfully manage a street lifestyle of crime, dealing, and drug use (Moyle & Coomber, 2017; Sandberg, 2008b; Sandberg & Pedersen, 2011; Shammas & Sandberg, 2016). Street capital is a form of legitimate power that has the capacity to generate profit and status in the street economy, yet it is also crucial for survival, encompassing skillful acts of violence/crime, the ability to “look right” in a given situation, and the knowledge of how to navigate welfare agencies that offer assistance (Ilan & Sandberg, 2019; Sandberg & Pedersen, 2011; Shammas & Sandberg, 2016). Street capital is often tied to aspects of masculinity (e.g., violence, retaliation; Sandberg & Pedersen, 2011); however, Grundetjern and Sandberg (2012) utilized this concept to examine the resourceful strategies (e.g., desexualization, violent posture, emotional detachment and service-mindedness) of women drug dealers as they operated at a disadvantage and faced more obstacles than their male counterparts in the gendered drug economy.…”