Page 26 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 26
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 5–6
in a collective way to establish a “dehumanized other”, or a “life unwor-
thy of life” as was the case with Nazi Germany (Glass, 1999). Similarly
extreme cases of the bestial denigration and rejection of outgroup others
were seen in Rwanda, or Gaddafi’s Libya, in which outgroups and polit-
ical opponents were described as “cockroaches”, from whom the country
had to be “cleansed” (Higiro, 2007: p. 85; BBC, 2011). There are almost
certainly parallels between such genocidal mass movements, and the nar-
ratives of radicalisation.
Synthesised Perspectives
The over-arching message of this analysis and modelling could be said to
be a growing acceptance that the early aspirations for “profiling” or mod-
elling the sorts of people who will be dangerously radicalised, and the
processes by which this will happen, are probably a fruitless pursuit. As
Horgan noted, the “moment of epiphany” concept of an embittered indi-
vidual suddenly crossing an identified line and deciding they will become
violent, is naïve at best (Horgan, 2008: p. 92). Instead, we seem to be faced
with a framework of situations and environments which could lead to vi-
olent radicalisation, but whether and how these take effect on any one in-
dividual is very much a case-by-case analysis.
In a detailed study of the circumstances in which a group of indi-
viduals came to be recruited by Palestinian militant organisations as su-
icide bombers during the Second Intifada, Assef Moghaddam devel-
oped a useful synthesised top-down and bottom-up schema, which has
a great deal of utility in considering the wider question of radicalisation
(Moghaddam, 2003). In his “two-phase model”, Moghaddam suggested
that the factors that lead to an individual being successfully recruited as
a violent militant are when a set of personal motivations intersect to a suf-
ficient degree with the organisational motivations of a particular group
(Moghaddam, 2003: p. 68).
At the individual level, a set of ideas, frustrations, and direct or indi-
rect experience of oppression or violence may lead to an individual feeling
so embittered that they might be willing to die to achieve some sort of jus-
tice or redemption. But only when these feelings neatly align with the or-
ganisational objectives of a particular group do the two come together at
the “recruitment” stage. Thereafter, the group will have to further radical-
ise and train the individual to carry out an attack before the second and fi-
nal phase of the process is completed. (Indeed, some individuals will nev-
er proceed from recruitment to actual attack.)
Here, we see the complex interplay between bottom-up personal cir-
cumstances, and the top-down objectives of a militant organisation or
24
in a collective way to establish a “dehumanized other”, or a “life unwor-
thy of life” as was the case with Nazi Germany (Glass, 1999). Similarly
extreme cases of the bestial denigration and rejection of outgroup others
were seen in Rwanda, or Gaddafi’s Libya, in which outgroups and polit-
ical opponents were described as “cockroaches”, from whom the country
had to be “cleansed” (Higiro, 2007: p. 85; BBC, 2011). There are almost
certainly parallels between such genocidal mass movements, and the nar-
ratives of radicalisation.
Synthesised Perspectives
The over-arching message of this analysis and modelling could be said to
be a growing acceptance that the early aspirations for “profiling” or mod-
elling the sorts of people who will be dangerously radicalised, and the
processes by which this will happen, are probably a fruitless pursuit. As
Horgan noted, the “moment of epiphany” concept of an embittered indi-
vidual suddenly crossing an identified line and deciding they will become
violent, is naïve at best (Horgan, 2008: p. 92). Instead, we seem to be faced
with a framework of situations and environments which could lead to vi-
olent radicalisation, but whether and how these take effect on any one in-
dividual is very much a case-by-case analysis.
In a detailed study of the circumstances in which a group of indi-
viduals came to be recruited by Palestinian militant organisations as su-
icide bombers during the Second Intifada, Assef Moghaddam devel-
oped a useful synthesised top-down and bottom-up schema, which has
a great deal of utility in considering the wider question of radicalisation
(Moghaddam, 2003). In his “two-phase model”, Moghaddam suggested
that the factors that lead to an individual being successfully recruited as
a violent militant are when a set of personal motivations intersect to a suf-
ficient degree with the organisational motivations of a particular group
(Moghaddam, 2003: p. 68).
At the individual level, a set of ideas, frustrations, and direct or indi-
rect experience of oppression or violence may lead to an individual feeling
so embittered that they might be willing to die to achieve some sort of jus-
tice or redemption. But only when these feelings neatly align with the or-
ganisational objectives of a particular group do the two come together at
the “recruitment” stage. Thereafter, the group will have to further radical-
ise and train the individual to carry out an attack before the second and fi-
nal phase of the process is completed. (Indeed, some individuals will nev-
er proceed from recruitment to actual attack.)
Here, we see the complex interplay between bottom-up personal cir-
cumstances, and the top-down objectives of a militant organisation or
24
