Reinstating and contextualizing religion in the analysis of Islamist radicalization in the West

ABSTRACT

Research on Islamist radicalization has been characterized by different analyses of why some people become radical Islamists. Structures such as social, economic and political marginalization are often understood as root causes of radicalization. In critical theorizations of radicalization, religion is often mentioned as a component; however, its role is often downplayed. This article focuses on the debate surrounding explanations of Islamist radicalization processes and discusses different approaches to reinstating religion in the analysis. The article introduces and develops the sociology of religious emotion (Riis and Woodhead 2010) as a not-yet-employed theoretical perspective in radicalization research. Instead of understanding radicalization as explained primarily either through structural social and political conditions or through specific interpretations of Islam, the tradition would allow us to understand religious emotions as formed within the social context. The article thus accentuates the importance of grasping the interplay between the social and societal context and specific interpretations of Islam. The application of the sociology of religious emotion and its underlying broad conception of religion thus offers a promising theorization of the role of religion in Islamist radicalization in the West that can help broaden the analytical scope.

KEYWORDS:

• Jihadism
• Islamism
• radicalization
• sociology of religion
• sociology of religious emotion
• religious emotional regimes
• sociology

Acknowledgement

This article is part of a project on young people and radicalization processes at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University. I would like to thank project leader Sune Qvotrup Jensen for support on this article. I would also like to thank Professor Sveinung Sandberg, Professor Lasse Lindekilde and the research groups CASTOR (Aalborg University) and RURPE (Aarhus University) for comments on this article and criminologist Umair Ahmed for facilitating contact with Ali.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeppe Fuglsang Larsen

Jeppe Fuglsang Larsen holds a PhD from Aalborg University and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University. His primary research interests include Islamist radicalization, right–wing extremism, religion, subculture and sociology of emotions.