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TRUTHS ARE OUT THERE UNVEILING RADICALIZATION AND ITS ALLEGED AFFINITY WITH ISLAM.

by | Vol 41 (4) 2023

Summary: As of 9/11 radicalization became part of our vocabulary, trying to grasp the anxiety related to the arbitrary nature of violent terrorist attacks. When analyzing radicalization as a signifier, it is striking how the layered meaning is often reduced to a one-to-one relationship between radicalization and Islam, sometimes leading to an equating of terrorism and Islam and minimizing the singularity of each story. In certain cases, this might have a counterproductive effect, with radicalized as an objectifying designation of one who is an object of danger. Hence the question arises how we can understand radicalization and if religion – Islam – plays a role in a radicalization process. We hypothesize an urge for action (pousse à l’action) as a driving force that pushes one to fully embody a – in some cases The – Muslim as a singular choice at the intersection of personal, societal as well as geopolitical elements.

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