Youths in Violent Extremist Discourse: Mediated Identifications and Interventions

Abstract

This article examines the discursive strategies employed by violent extremists to build a persuasive collective youth identity, drawing from strategic communication, social movement, and membership categorization theories to analyze youth references from texts disseminated by Al Qaeda from 1996–2009. “Youth” is constructed via (a) ascriptions of allegiance to a common belief system whereby militant actions are directed toward establishing a new sociopolitical order, (b) descriptions of pious youth as “true believers” apart from “apostate” state regimes, and (c) references to hagiographies of extremist martyrs that serve as moral exemplars. This article concludes with research directions to facilitate counternarrative interventions.

Acknowledgments are made to the colleagues at Consortium of Strategic Communication at the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, Arizona State University, and the Combating Terrorism Center, United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The authors are grateful to Angela Trethewey, Megan Fisk, Zachary Justus, and Kristin Fleischer who worked on supporting data analysis as well as to Bud Goodall and Steve Corman who provided helpful comments on the article. This work was supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, no. N00014-09-1-0872, led by principal investigators Steve Corman, Angela Trethewey, Bud Goodall, Pauline Hope Cheong, and Daniel Bernardi.

Notes

1. David Mckenzie and Tricia Escobedo, “Somali-American's Family: Who Sent Son to Die?” CNN.com (2009). Available at http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/07/13/somalia.american.killed/index.html#cnn STCText

2. Bradley L. Bowman, “U.S. Grand Strategy for Countering Islamist Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century,” in James J. F. Forest, ed., Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007), pp. 29–55.

3. See, for example, John Horgan, “From Profiles to Pathways and Roots to Routes: Perspectives from Psychology on Radicalization into Terrorism,” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 618 (2008), pp. 80–94; Andrew Silke, “Holy Warriors: Exploring the Psychological Processes of Jihadi Radicalization,” European Journal of Criminology 5 (2008), pp. 99–123; Jeff Victoroff, “The Mind of the Terrorist: A Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (2005), pp. 3–42.

4. See National Intelligence Council, “Mapping the Global Future,” National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project (2004).

5. Colleen McCue and Kathryn Haahr, “The Impact of Global Youth Bulges on Islamist Radicalization and Violence,” CTC Sentinel 1(11) (2008), p. 12.

6. For Britain, see Paul Thomas, “Between Two Stools? The Government's ‘Preventing Violent Extremism Agenda,” Political Quarterly 80(2) (2009), pp. 282–291; for the United States, see Fait Muedini, “Muslim American College Youth: Attitudes and Responses Five Years After 9/11,” The Muslim World 99 (2009), pp. 39–59; for Australia, see Nahid Kabir, “To Be or Not to be an Australian: Focus on Muslim Youth,” National Identities, 10(4) (2008), pp. 399–419; for South Asia, see Sunaina Maira, “Flexible Citizenship/Flexible Empire: South Asian Muslim Youth in Post-9/11 America,” American Quarterly 60(3) (2008), pp. 697–720; for Denmark, see Vassilis Saroglou and P. Galand, “Identities, Values, and Religion: A Study Among Muslim, Other Immigrants, and Native Belgian Young Adults After the 9/11 Attacks,” Identity 4(2) (2004), pp. 97–132; for Scotland, see Peter E. Hopkins, “Young Muslim Men in Scotland: Inclusions and Exclusions,” Children's Geographies 2(2) (2004), pp. 257–272.

7. Brigitte L. Nacos, “The Media and Recruitment of Terrorists,” in Tomasz Pludowski, ed., In Terrorism, Media and Society (Poland: Adam Marszalek Publishing, 2006), pp. 243–252.

8. Willem De Koster and Dick Houtman, “Stormfront is Like a Second Home to Me. On Virtual Community Formation by Right-Wing Extremists.” Information, Communication and Society 11(8) (2008), pp. 1155–1176.

9. Steve R. Corman and Jill Schiefelbein, Communication and Media Strategy in the Jihadi War of Ideas, Report #0601 (ASU: Consortium for Strategic Communication, 2006).

10. Joseph S. Tuman, Communicating Terror: The Rhetorical Dimensions of Terrorism (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003).

11. Carl J. Ciovacco, “The Contours of Al Qaeda's Media Strategy,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 21(5) (2009), pp. 856–857.

12. David Betz, “The Virtual Dimension of Contemporary Insurgency and Counterinsurgency,” Small Wars & Insurgencies 19(4) (2008), pp. 510–540.

13. The complete list and content of primary texts are accessible via contact to the authors through the project website, developed under the auspices of the Consortium of Strategic Communication, Arizona State University.

14. Alain Touraine, “An Introduction to the Study of Social Movements,” Social Research 52 (1985), pp. 749–787; Claus Offe, “New Social Movements: Challenging the Boundaries of Institutional Politics,” Social Research 52 (1985), pp. 817–868; Manuel Castells, The Power of Identity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997); Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Hegemony and Socialist Strategy (London: Verso, 1985); J. L. Cohen, “Strategy or Identity: New Theoretical Paradigms and Contemporary Social Movements,” Social Research 52 (1985), pp. 663–716.

15. Francesca Polletta and James M. Jasper, “Collective Identity and Social Movements,” Annual Reviews of Sociology 27 (2001), p. 285.

16. Marco Giugni, “Political, Biographical, and Cultural Consequences of Social Movements,” Sociology Compass 2(5) (2008), pp. 1582–1600.

17. Alberto Melucci, Challenging Codes: Collective Action in the Information Age (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

18. See, for example, Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow, “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment,” Annual Review of Sociology 26(1) (2000), pp. 611–639; Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective Action, and Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Dietram A. Scheufele, “Framing as a Theory of Media Effects,” Journal of Communication 49 (1999), pp. 103–122; William A. Gamson, “Political Discourse and Collective Action,” International Social Movement Research 1 (1988), pp. 219–244.

19. Verta Taylor and Nancy E. Whittier, “Collective Identity and Lesbian Feminist Mobilization,” in Aldon D. Morris and Carol McClurg Mueller, eds., Frontiers in Social Movement Theory (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992), pp. 104–129.

20. Kenneth Payne, “Winning the Battle of Ideas: Propaganda, Ideology and Terror,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 32 (2009), pp. 109–128.

21. John Downing, “Social Movement Theories and Alternative Media,” Communication, Culture, & Critique 1 (2008), pp. 40–50.

22. See Brigitte L. Nacos, “The Media and Recruitment of Terrorists,” in Tomasz Pludowski, ed., In Terrorism, Media and Society (Poland: Adam Marszalek Publishing, 2006), pp. 243–252; Ronald D. Crelinsten, “Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The Central Role of the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism,” Political Communication 22 (2005), pp. 115–118; Joseph A. Schafer, “Spinning the Web of Hate: Web-Based Propagation by Extremist Organizations,” Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 9(2) (2002), pp. 69–88.

23. Jerrold M. Post, Kevin G. Ruby, and Eric D. Shaw, “From Car Bombs to Logic Bombs: The Growing Threat from Information Terrorism,” Terrorism and Political Violence 12.2 (2000), pp. 97–122; Jeffrey C. Alexander, “From the Depths of Despair: Performance, Counter-Performance, and September 11,” Sociological Theory 22 (2004), pp. 88–105.

24. Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2007); James S. Robbins, “Battlefronts in the War of Ideas,” in James J. F. Forest, ed., Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007), pp. 298–318.

25. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Fiqh al-Jihad (Cairo: Wahba Bookshop, 2009).

26. Manuel Castells, The Power of Identity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1997).

27. Jerold M. Post, “The Key Role of Psychological Operations in Countering Terrorism,” in James J. F. Forest, ed., Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2007).

28. Seth J. Schwartz, Curtis S. Dunkel, and Alan S. Waterman, “Terrorism: An Identity Theory Perspective,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 32(6) (2009), pp. 537–559

29. Quoted in Dean E. Murphy, “Terror Label No Hindrance to Anti-Arab Jewish Group,” The New York Times, 19 December 2000.

30. Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, Updated Edition with New Preface (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), p. 54.

31. Available at http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/kach.cfm

32. Available at http://www.yuryr.50megs.com/mtl02.htm

33. Jeffrey C. Alexander, “From the Depths of Despair: Performance, Counter-Performance, and September 11,” Sociological Theory 22 (2004), pp. 88–105.

34. See Downing, “Social Movement Theories and Alternative Media”; Polletta and Jasper, “Collective Identity and Social Movements”; Taylor and Whittier, “Collective Identity and Lesbian Feminist Mobilization.”

35. Harvey Sacks, Lectures on Conversation: Volume I & II (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992).

36. Ibid., p. 139.

37. Anssi Perakyla, “Analyzing Text and Talk,” in N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, eds., Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials: 3rd Edition (Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2008), p. 357.

38. Peter Eglin and Stephen Hester, The Montreal Massacre: A Story of Membership Categorization Analysis (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2003).

39. Ivan Leudar, Victoria Marsland, and Jiri Nekvapil, “On Membership Categorization: ‘Us,’ ‘Them’ and ‘Doing Violence’ in Political Discourse,” Discourse & Society 15(2–3) (2004), pp. 243–266.

40. Ibid., p. 243.

41. Ibid., p. 245.

42. Ibid., p. 262.

43. Islamic Development Bank, 34th Annual Report 1429H (2008–2009). Available at http://www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IDBDevelopments/Internet/English/IDB/CM/Publications/Annual_Reports/34th/AnnualReport_34.pdf

44. Mohammed Obaidullah, “Fighting Against Poverty in Islamic Societies,” Islamic Voice (2007). Available at http://islamicvoice.com/December2007/MuslimEconomy/

45. Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage, 1979), p. 1.

46. Ibid., p. 3.

47. Sahih Muslim, Book 033:6429. Available at http://www.usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/hadith/

48. Matthew Herbert highlights the importance of understanding the wide spectrum of Islamists who inhabit distinct yet sometimes contradictory identities. See Matthew Herbert, “The Plasticity of the Islamic Activist: Notes from the Counterterrorism Literature,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 32(5) (2009), pp. 389–405.

49. Schwartz also notes that an important direction for counterterrorism intervention is to promote youth development that creates a positive sense of identity among youths who are taught to value tolerance and caring traits. See Schwartz et al., “Terrorism,” pp. 553–554.