The rhetoric and reality: radicalization and political discourse

Abstract

This article will illustrate how the term 'radicalization' has both contributed to and been the subject of the social construction of risk surrounding violence and radicalization. To this extent, contemporary discussions of radicalization are related to ideas of 'vulnerability' and susceptibility to 'extremism' -topics which facilitate problematic assertions of inherent relationships between challenging ideas and the propensity for violence. The article will close by providing some corrective suggestions to push forward less subjectively framed research, while still engaging in the complex examination of the relationships between identities, ideas, and violence.

Cities’ Policies: the Work of European Cities to Counter Muslim Radicalisation

“…As already mentioned, from an academic perspective, the idea of radicalisation as a phased process and some of the assumptions in the model have met with serious criticism and discussion. Recent literature argues that the current models cannot fully explain why certain individuals become violent extremists (see for an overview King and Taylor 2011;Githens-Mazer 2012;Heath-Kelly 2012;Lynch 2013). This literature has distinguished a wide range of possible explanatory factors at the micro, meso and macro levels, but has not been able to explain the exact reasons for violent extremism or map causal linkages between explanatory factors and violent behaviour (Daalgaard-Nielsen 2010).…”

Informing Lone‐Offender Investigations

“…“Radicalization” is a misleading term to describe the process of becoming involved in terrorism (Githens‐Mazer, ). Radicalizing connotes a transformative process of change by which people adopt an extreme, violent ideology—and that ideology ultimately leads them to violent action (Bhui, Dinos, and Jones, ).…”

“…Fanatically embracing an ideology is neither a proxy for, nor a necessary precursor to, terrorism (Bartlett and Miller, 2012;Borum, 2011b;Githens-Mazer, 2012). Conflating the two concepts undermines our ability to counter either of them effectively.…”

MultiScale Modeling of Islamic Organizations in UK

“…Radicalism is the ideological conviction that it is acceptable and sometimes obligatory to use violence to effect profound political, cultural and religious transformations and to change the existing social order fundamentally. Radical movements have complex origins and depend on diverse factors that enable the translation of their radical ideology into social, political and religious movements [16]. Crelinsten [17] states, "both violence and terrorism possess a logic and grammar that must be understood if we are to prevent or control them."…”