The concept of radicalization as a source of confusion

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 22, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 479-494

  Sedgwick, Mark ^a  

^a AARHUS UNIVERSITY   (Denmark)

Author keywords

Definition; Integration; Jihadism; Neo nationalism; Radicalization

Indexed keywords

EID: 77956545777     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: 15561836     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2010.491009     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. See for example David R. Mandel, "Radicalization: What does it mean?" In Indigenous Terrorism: Understanding and Addressing the Root Causes of Radicalization Among Groups With an Immigrant Heritage in Europe, T. Pick & A. Speckhard, eds. (Amsterdam: IOS Press, forthcoming)
2. Jonathan Githens-Mazer, "Causal Processes, Radicalisation and Bad Policy: The Importance of Case Studies of Radical Violent Takfiri Jihadism for Establishing Logical Causality" (unpublished paper presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, 6 September, 2009),
3. Lene Kühle and Lasse Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (Aarhus: Centre for Studies in Islamism and Radicalisation, January 2010, www.ps.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/filer_statskundskab/subsites/cir/radicalization_aarhus_FINAL.pdf)
4. These comments are based on a limited review of articles from the 1990s containing the term.
5. Peter R. Neumann, Introduction to Perspectives on Radicalisation and Political Vioelnce: Papers from the First International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence, London 17-18 January 2008 (London: International Center for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, 2008), 4.
6. Or rather an "individual. 'without a cause."' Kühle and Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (see note 1 above), 27.
7. Matthew Herbert, "The Plasticity of the Islamic Activist: Notes from the Counterterrorism Literature," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 32 (2009), 392.
8. "Radical, adj. and n.," Oxford English Dictionary, September 2009.
9. Herbert, "Plasticity of the Islamic Activist," 389-900.
10. José Ortega y Gasset, "El ocaso de las revoluciones" (1923), 2, pazfuerzayalegria.net=IMG=pdf_D8_el_ocaso_de_las_revoluciones.pdf
11. Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude (New York: Grove Press, 1978), 21-22.
12. Egon Bittner, "Radicalism and the Organization of Radical Movements," American Sociological Review 28 (1963), 932.
13. Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951).
14. Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley, "Measuring Political Mobilization: The Distinction Between Activism and Radicalism," Terrorism and Political Violence 21 (2009), 240.
15. Githens-Mazer, "Causal Processes, Radicalisation and Bad Policy" (see note 1 above).
16. Kühle and Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (see note 1 above), 69, 73-74.
17. See Kühle and Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (see note 1 above), 23-25,
18. Mandel, "Radicalization: What does it mean?" (see note 1 above), and
19. D. Elaine Pressman, "Exploring the Sources of Radicalization and Violent Radicalization: Some Transatlantic Perspectives," Journal of Security Issues 2, no. 1 (2008).
20. House Resolution 1955 of the 110th Congress, "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007," section 899A (2), www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h110-1955, accessed November 6, 2009.
21. RCMP Alternative Analysis Unit, internal communication (2007), quoted in Pressman, "Exploring the Sources of Radicalization" (see note 15 above), 2.
22. See also Mandel, "Radicalization: What does it mean?" (see note 1 above).
23. AIVD (Netherlands General Intelligence and Security Service), The Radical Dawa in Transition: The Rise of Islamic Neoradicalism in the Netherlands (The Hague: AIVD, 2007), 10, www.aivd.nl/contents/pages/90126/theradicaldawaintransition.pdf
24. United Kingdom, Home Office, "Preventing Violent Extremism: A Strategy for Delivery" (May 2008), 5.
25. United States Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons Selection of Muslim Religious Services Providers" (April, 2004), 6, n. 6, www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/0404/final.pdf
26. Denmark, Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, "En fælles og tryg fremtid. Handlingsplan om forebyggelse af ekstremistiske holdninger og radikalisering blandt unge" (2009), 7, www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/A797F73E-33E0-431A-9224-EE8BC39C932B/0/en_faelles_fremtid.pdf
27. AIVD, Radical Dawa in Transition (see note 18 above), 10.
28. Denmark, Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs, "En fælles og tryg fremtid" (see note 21 above), 7-8.
29. HR 1955.
30. RCMP, internal communication, quoted in Pressman, "Exploring the Sources of Radicalization" (see note 15 above), 2.
31. This observation is based on private discussions with a number of European government officials.
32. Pressman, "Exploring the Sources of Radicalization" (see note 15 above), 18-19.
33. If this were not the case, one would probably be dealing with criminality or insanity, not terrorism.
34. "Integration," Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, 1989. 30.
35. A concern with avoiding polarization between Muslim and majority communities is also, it has been argued by some European officials in private, one good reason for using the term "radicalization": it allows public discussion of the problem of violent Islamism without using the words "Islam" or "Muslim." This may be true, but it may also simply establish the idea that "Muslim" and "radical" are synonymous.
36. Marcus Banks and André Gingrich, "Neo-nationalism in Europe and Beyond," in Neo-nationalism in Europe and Beyond: Perspectives from Social Anthropology, Gingrich and Banks, eds. (Oxford: Berghahn, 2006), 2-3.
37. "Endelig opgørelse af folketingsvalget den 13. September 2007," valg.ism.dk/valg/folketingsvalg/Documents/Med-endelige-res.pdf
38. Michael Steen, "Far Right Seeks to Benefit from Dutch Election in June," Financial Times, February 24, 2010, www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0f13ca2-20e4-11df-b920-00144feab49a.html
39. Mehmet Aközbek et al., "Datgene wat ons bindt: gemeenschappelijke integratieagenda van rijk en gemeenten" (January 2009), 2, www.vrom.nl/pagina.html?id=2706&sp=2&dn=w1090
40. "Arguably" because the Netherlands position of Minister without Portfolio for Migration and Integration, established in 2002, was a development of the position of State Secretary for Migration, established in 1989.
41. Denmark, Ministeriet for Flygtninge, Indvandrere og Integration, "Oversigt over regeringens integrationspolitik," www.nyidanmark.dk/da-dk/ministeren/regeringens_integrationspolitik, accessed November 22, 2009.
42. Sweden, Integrations-och jämställdhetsdepartementet, "Fö r egenmakt - mot diskriminering," www.regeringen.se/sb/d/8324/a/103538, accessed November 22, 2009.
43. France, Ministère de l'immigration, de l'intégration, de l'identité nationale et du développement solidaire, "Missions et rôle," www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_them_org&numrubrique=311, accessed November 22, 2009.
44. "Sverige för nyanlända: Värden, välfärdsstat, vardagsliv" (Stockholm: Government Office, 2010), 20, www.regeringen.se/content/1/c6/14/07/76/f7d489d6.pdf
45. An edited version is available for use in jurisdictions where possession of the unedited version of the video might constitute a criminal offense ("The Film 'Coming to the Netherlands,"' Netherlands Ministry of Justice, www.naarnederland.nl/documentenservice/pagina.asp?pagkey=53774, accessed March 12, 2010).
46. These comments are based especially on observation of the policies and statements of the Egyptian government.
47. An excellent article is Mona El-Ghobashy, "The Metamorphosis of the Egyptian Muslim Brothers," International Journal of Middle East Studies 37 (2005), 373-395.
48. Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, "Islamic Extremism: A Viable Threat to U.S. National Security," address at an Open Forum at the U.S. Department of State, January 7, 1999, members.fortunecity.com=amirm=Extremism.html
49. There are also supporters of taqlid who condemn Sufism, and supporters of Sufism who condemn taqlid, but these are not major categories.
50. Shiraz Maher and Martyn Frampton, Choosing Our Friends Wisely: Criteria for Engagement with Muslim Groups (London: Policy Exchange, 2009), 5.
51. Charles Farr, letter to Dean Goodson, June 23, 2009, 1, www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/pdfs/Dean_Godson_letter_Choosing_our_Friends_Wisely_23-06-09.pdf
52. Farr to Goodson (see note 46 above), 2.
53. Kühle and Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (see note 1 above), 47.
54. Kühle and Lindekilde, "Radicalization among Young Muslims in Aarhus" (see note 1 above), 58.
55. United Kingdom, Commission on Integration and Cohesion, "Our Shared Future," final report of the commission (Wetherby: Communities and Local Government Publications, 2007), 15.
56. United Kingdom, Department for Communities and Local Government, "The Government's Response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion" (Wetherby: Communities and Local Government Publications, 2008), 11.
57. At least one bishop of the Danish National Church has objected to this conception in a newspaper column, pointing out that she was both Danish and religious (Elisabeth Dons Christensen, "Frygten for religion har Fanden skabt," Jyllands-Posten, 21 February 2010, A 22).
58. I have never seen this position expressed in an official document or in print-where the normal practices of Islam are simply described as an obstacle to integration rather than as actually radical-but have heard such practices described as "radical" in conversation.
59. It is, after all, a standard strategic objective of counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency to bring groups within the political process.