Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T09:56:22.146Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Antecedents of Islamic Political Radicalism Among Muslim Communities in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2008

Akil N. Awan
Affiliation:
University of London

Extract

Recent years have witnessed a rapid proliferation of radical Islamist activity in western Europe, from MI5's claim in 2006 of 30 incipient “terror plots” and 1,600 individuals under surveillance, to actual terrorist atrocities in European cities, the most infamous and deadly of which included the transport network bombings in Madrid in 2003 and in London in 2005. Concomitantly, both the media and the wider social discourse have been rife with self-appointed punditry and a plethora of commentators pontificating on European radical Islam's putative causal factors and remedies. This paper will attempt to address the complex issues by providing a fuller, more nuanced understanding of some of the causes and antecedents of Islamic political radicalism among western European Muslims.

Type
SYMPOSIUM
Copyright
© 2008 The American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akhtar, N. 2003. The Biraderi. BBC Radio 4, August 26.Google Scholar
Atran, S. 2004. “Soft Power and the Psychology of Suicide Bombing.” Global Terrorism Analysis 2 (11): 13.Google Scholar
Awan, Akil N. 2007. “Virtual Jihadist Media: Function, Legitimacy, and Radicalizing Efficacy.” European Journal of Cutural Studies 10 (3): 389408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
bin Laden, Osama. 1996. “Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.” Al Quds Al Arabi, August. http://azzam.com/html/articlesdeclaration.htm (January 3, 2001, no longer available).Google Scholar
Buckser, A., and SD Glazier, eds. 2003. The Anthropology of Religious Conversion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.Google Scholar
Bunt, Gary. 2003. Islam in the Digital Age: E-Jihad, Online Fatwas and Cyber Islamic Environments. London: Pluto Press.Google Scholar
Cantle, T. 2001. Community Cohesion: a Report of the Independent Review Team. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Clarke, T. 2002. Report of the Burnley Task Force. www.burnleytaskforce.org.uk (October 12, 2005).Google Scholar
Conway, Flo, and Jim Siegelman. 1978. Snapping: America's Epidemic of Sudden Personality Change. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Denham, J. 2002. Building Cohesive Communities: A Report of the Ministerial Group on Public Order and Community Cohesion. London: Home Office.Google Scholar
Department for Education, and Skills. 2003. Aiming High: Raising the Achievement of Ethnic Minority Pupils. London: Department for Education and Skills.Google Scholar
Dodd, V., J. Vasagar, and T. Branigan. 2003. “Polite and Caring Sons who Turned to Terror.” The Guardian, May 2.Google Scholar
Durkheim, E. 1897. Suicide: A Study in Sociology. Trans. J.A. Spaulding and G. Simpson, 1952. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
European Monitoring Centre on Racism, and Xenophobia. 2003. The Fight Against Antisemitism and Islamophobia: Bringing Communities Together. Vienna: European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.Google Scholar
Farrar, M. 2005. “Leeds Footsoldiers and London Bombs.” Open Democracy, July 22. www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-terrorism/leeds_2696.jsp (October 14, 2005).Google Scholar
FCO, and Home Office. 2004. Young Muslims and Extremism, April 6. www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/cabinet1.pdf (November 9, 2005).Google Scholar
FOSIS. 2005. The Voice of Muslim Students. London: Federation of Student Islamic Societies, London. www.fosis.org.uk/committees/sac/FullReport.pdf (October 14, 2005).Google Scholar
Haykel, B. 2005. “Among Jihadis, a Rift Over Suicide Attacks.” New York Times, October 12.Google Scholar
Hefner, R.W. 2005. “Modernity and the Remaking of Muslim Politics.” In Remaking Muslim Politics: Pluralism, Contestation, Democratization, ed. R.W. Hefner. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
International Institute of Strategic Studies. 2004. Strategic Survey 2003/4. London: International Institute of Strategic Studies.Google Scholar
Johnson, A., S. Carrell, and J. McGirk. 2003. “The War On Terror: Is This The First Evidence Of A Suicide Bomb Plot In Britain?Independent on Sunday, November 30.Google Scholar
Kennedy, D. 2005. “Labour Election Fraud ‘Would Disgrace a Banana Republic’.” The Times, April 5.Google Scholar
Leiken, R.S., and S. Brooke. 2005. “Al Qaeda's Second Front: Europe.” International Herald Tribune, July 15.Google Scholar
Lewis, Bernard. 1994. The Shaping of the Modern Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McGrory, D., and Z. Hussain. 2005. “Cousin Listened to Boasts about Suicide Mission.” The Times, July 22.Google Scholar
Modood, T. 2005. Multicultural Politics: Racism, Ethnicity and Muslims in Britain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
MSANEWS. 1996. “The Ladinese Epistle: Declaration of War (I).” October 12. http://msanews.mynet.net//MSANEWS/199610/19961012.3 (no longer available).Google Scholar
Oakes, Penelope J., S. Alexander Haslam, and John C. Turner. 1994. Stereotyping and Social Reality. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics. 2003. The UK Population: By Religion, April 2001. www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=293&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=176 (July 12, 2005).Google Scholar
Ouseley, H. 2002. Community Pride, not Prejudice—the Ouseley Report on Bradford. Bradford: Bradford Vision.Google Scholar
Pape, R.A. 2005. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York: Random House.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peach, C. 2004. “Britain's Muslim Population: An Overview.” In Muslim Britain: Communities Under Pressure, ed. T Abbas. London: Zed Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritchie, D. 2001. Oldham Independent Review. North West: Oldham Independent Review Panel and Government Office.Google Scholar
Roy, Oliver. 1994. The Failure of Political Islam. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Song, M. 2003. Choosing Ethnic Identity. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Stack, S. 2004. “Emile Durkheim and Altruistic Suicide.” Archives of Suicide Research 8 (1): 922.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strategy Unit. 2003. Ethnic Minorities and the Labour Market. London: Cabinet Office.Google Scholar
Taarnby, M. 2004. “The European Battleground.” Global Terrorism Analysis 2 (23): 12.Google Scholar
The Home Office. 2005. “Preventing Extremism Together” Working Groups. August–October 2005. http://communities.homeoffice.gov.uk/raceandfaith/reports_pubs/publications/race_faith/PET-working-groups-aug-0ct05 (October 13, 2005).Google Scholar
TUC. 2005. Poverty, Exclusion and British people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi Origin. Trades Union Congress, March 10, www.tuc.org.uk/extras/Poverty.pdf (November 18, 2005).Google Scholar
Turner, John C., Michael A. Hogg, Penelope J. Oakes, Stephen D. Reicher, and Margaret S. Wetherell. 1987. Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. New York: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar