Page 13 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 13
A Conceptual Exploration of Radicalisation
Julian Richards
Introduction
The concept of radicalism in society has a long history, with many
suggesting a close affiliation to the developments of eighteenth-cen-
tury Enlightenment Europe (Bötticher, 2017: p. 76). It appears to
be the case that the active process of “radicalisation”, however, has taken
on a new lease of life in the twenty-first century. A rough starting-point
for such a development can be identified as the 9/11 attacks in the US,
which not only triggered a global shift in security policy and irrevocably
reoriented the post-Cold War security landscape; but which also empha-
sised the human element of identity in the postmodern, internet-age ter-
rorist movements with whom we found ourselves at odds.
Two key factors are inherent in these more recent developments.
Firstly, the importance of bureaucratic drivers to the debates, formula-
tions and reformulations of radicalisation theory cannot be overestimat-
ed. It appears to be the case that studies supporting governments and state
agencies in the early years after 9/11 increasingly identified and scoped a
“process” connected with radicalisation, which could be modelled and
turned into clearly-defined counter-radicalisation policy and strategy.
This work, in turn, catalysed an interest in academic circles in the notions
of extremism, radicalism and radicalisation.
Second, a line was drawn in the chronology of counter-terrorism
strategies in many states, such that policy after 9/11 took on a greater pre-
occupation with the human element than was the case before. This be-
came an accelerating process in the aftermath of the major terrorist
11
Julian Richards
Introduction
The concept of radicalism in society has a long history, with many
suggesting a close affiliation to the developments of eighteenth-cen-
tury Enlightenment Europe (Bötticher, 2017: p. 76). It appears to
be the case that the active process of “radicalisation”, however, has taken
on a new lease of life in the twenty-first century. A rough starting-point
for such a development can be identified as the 9/11 attacks in the US,
which not only triggered a global shift in security policy and irrevocably
reoriented the post-Cold War security landscape; but which also empha-
sised the human element of identity in the postmodern, internet-age ter-
rorist movements with whom we found ourselves at odds.
Two key factors are inherent in these more recent developments.
Firstly, the importance of bureaucratic drivers to the debates, formula-
tions and reformulations of radicalisation theory cannot be overestimat-
ed. It appears to be the case that studies supporting governments and state
agencies in the early years after 9/11 increasingly identified and scoped a
“process” connected with radicalisation, which could be modelled and
turned into clearly-defined counter-radicalisation policy and strategy.
This work, in turn, catalysed an interest in academic circles in the notions
of extremism, radicalism and radicalisation.
Second, a line was drawn in the chronology of counter-terrorism
strategies in many states, such that policy after 9/11 took on a greater pre-
occupation with the human element than was the case before. This be-
came an accelerating process in the aftermath of the major terrorist
11
