Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka begreppet radikalisering som process. Med litteraturstudiet som metod har syftet varit att undersöka utvalda forskares uppfattning om vilka faktorer som påverkar till radikalisering, vad som kännetecknad en individ som går in i en radikaliseringsprocess och vilka faktorer som i första hand påverkar vägen ut ur ett radikaliserat tänkande. Syftet har inte varit att finna en absolut sanning i det som studerats, utan undersökningens ambition har istället varit att bidra med en fördjupad insikt och förståelse för att begreppet radikalisering är komplext. Resultatet av studien visar att en extremist eller terrorist inte är någonting en människa föds till att vara, snarare är detta något personen blir genom olika faktorer som påverkar dem på vägen. Majoriteten som radikaliseras är ungdomar mellan 15-30 år. Personer som saknar känslan av identitet och mening i livet, och därför upplever rotlöshet, löper större risk för att radikaliseras och ansluta sig till fundamentalistiska grupper.

This thesis examines how the countering violent extremism initiatives implemented by the Australian government since 2011 have been received by Muslim communities in Sydney and the impact such measures have had, particularly, for those communities. Investigating the reception and impact of such initiatives both for and within Muslim communities, is vital in order to understand the scope of their reach and their efficiency. This thesis – addressing the lack of literature on this issue - will take the form of a case study of such programmes and their receipt by Muslim communities in Sydney, using primarily, qualitative research gathered through the use of semi-structured and unstructured interviews, as well as focus groups within Muslim communities in Sydney and policy reports gathered by both governmental and non-governmental bodies. Through an examination of the discourse adopted by the Howard government, in the period from 2001 to 2007, this study unearths and highlights the hostile, anti-Muslim environment in which the countering violent extremism measures were introduced. This environment was characterised by racism, negative stereotyping and vindication. Furthermore, through an analysis of this anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant narrative and discourse, the perceived threat posed by militant Islam to Australia and its interests constitutes both a process and discourse of securitisation by both the Howard government and the media. Data from fieldwork serves to evidence and reiterate the anti-Muslim undercurrent of Howard’s discourse maintaining the suspect community narrative and culminating in the securitisation of the Muslim population. The poor receipt of these measures by Muslim communities and the detrimental impact in terms of further marginalisation, alienation, and suspicion are testament to the counter-terror discourse and the growth in community based counter-terror measures.

This thesis explores how Egypt’s militant extremists used theological sources and the methodology of Islamic juridical-religious thought as instruments of legitimization for acts of political violence. Most studies dealing with the topic of Muslim extremism in Egypt are defined by a dominant interpretive paradigm, which treats Muslim extremists as political reactionaries, responding to a variety of political, economic, social, and cultural grievances. Although such grievances certainly played an important role in the development of extremism, the theological dimension of extremist ideologies has been drastically understudied. This thesis puts forth two correlative arguments. First, this thesis argues that the phenomenon of Muslim extremism in Egypt cannot be fully understood, without understanding its theological dimension. Secondly, this thesis argues that the historical trajectory of extremism and militant theological thought in Egypt from 1954-1997 unfolded in three distinct and heterogeneous phases, each with its own unique characteristics.

This research paper aims to examine how local boroughs in the South suburbs of Stockholm work with matters relating to radicalism and violent extremism with roots in white power environments and Islam. The paper will look at the different challenges faced by the local Boroughs in tackling the problems in the future. The empirical material that forms the basis of this paper have been collected through semi structured interviews with local coordinators employed by three different boroughs within the South suburbs of Stockholm. The theoretical framework of the study is formed by a typological model that comprises different kinds of crime prevention exercises with backgrounds in superordinate values. The empirical material has been analyzed in relation to crime prevention as a societal phenomenon depending on what preventive method has been given the timely aspect related to primary, secondary or tertiary prevention. Results show that radicalism and violent extremism are phenomenon with substantial complexity, according to all participating coordinators, white power environments tend to be significantly more violent in their behaviour and serves as the primary local threat whereas activities relating to radical Islam is more limited. The coordinators speak about the necessity to work for an inclusive society rather than controlling which risks stigmatizing the individuals who could be considered in an already weak and resource scarce situations. The study show that the boroughs dominant prevention mechanisms are formed of structural and socialization prevention methods rather than effective reduction and/or controlling prevention. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur kommuner i Stockholm söderort arbetar med frågor som rör sig kring radikalisering och våldsbejakande extremism rörande vit makt-miljöer och islamistisk extremism samt vilka utmaningar som deltagande kommuner uppger föreligga i framtiden. Det empiriska underlag som studien innefattas av är inhämtat genom semi-strukturella intervjuer med samordnare inom tre olika kommuner i Stockholm söderort.   Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgörs delvis av olika typer av en typologisk modell som innefattar olika typer av brottspreventiva åtgärder och hur dessa typer utgörs med bakgrund av olika överordnade värden. Studiens empiriska material är analyserat i anknytning till brottsprevention som samhällsfenomen i sig samt vilket avseende som preventiva åtgärder utgör i relation till insatsens tidsaspekt-primär/sekundär/tertiär prevention.   Studiens resultat redogör att radikalisering och våldsbejakande extremism är ett komplext fenomen. Samtliga samordnare som deltagit i studien poängterar för vit makt-miljöer som den våldsbejakande miljö som utgör det primära hotet i kommunerna samt att vetskapen gällande aktiviteter av islamistiska extremist-miljöer är mer begränsad. Samordnarna belyser nödvändigheten att arbeta för ett inkluderande samhälle som ska förebygga utanförskap snarare än kontrollutövande insatser som riskerar att stigmatisera individer som redan är i en resurssvag position.   Studien visar på att kommuners dominerande preventionsåtgärder utgörs av struktur och- socialisationsåtgärder snarare än effektiviseringsåtgärder och/eller kontrollåtgärder.

The theme of the thesis entitled "Skinheads - political activists" is a description and follow-depth analysis of apolitical segment of the Czech skinhead subculture in the terms of their political orientations. Introduction to the theme consists of the subculture theories which were created in past. The following methodological part summarizes research progress of the selection of respondents by snowball sampling, the scenario of in-depth interviews and the analysis of alternative media. After this part there is a brief introduction to the history of skinhead subculture. Empirical findings than summarize political influences on subculture and its values and political orientations. The aim of this work is to reveal the link between extremism and subculture of skinheads in the Czech environment. The results of the analysis revealed that the apolitical segment of Czech skinhead subculture is not inherently extremist movement, although in some particular values intertwined with racist and xenophobic ideologies. But at the end it seems not necessary to control this part of subculture, because its foundat

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Over the last 20 years, domestic far-right extremism has risen to become the greatest threat to peace and safety in the United States. In the last few years alone, racialized, minoritized, and marginalized individuals and communities have been increasingly forced to feel the pain and experience the consequences of domestic far-right terrorism. Supposing academics, community leaders, and elected officials seek to combat the rising threat of far-right extremism in the United States, a greater focus must be paid to the lived experiences of men and women seeking to exit extremist groups. This study aimed to better understand the psychosocial processes involved in the disengagement and/or de-radicalization journey of former far-right extremists. Additionally, this study sought to understand better the potential role social work could play in the disengagement and de-radicalization of far-right extremists seeking to exit a life of hate and extremism. Charmaz’s (2014) grounded theory approach provided the framework for this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews with 18 former white nationalist extremists recruited through community informants and snowball sampling were used to answer the research question; What are the psychosocial processes involved in the disengagement and de-radicalization journey of former far-right extremists, and how do they develop in society? To date, there has not been a study located utilizing grounded theory in disengagement and de-radicalization studies. Additionally, a theory of disengagement and de-radicalization has yet to be explored. This study sought to explore and conceptualize latent social patterns and structures within the disengagement and de-radicalization journey as a means to construct a theoretical frame to better understand one’s journey from a life of hate. Study findings emerged from over 3,500 coded items from 18 transcripts. Eight themes emerged from the data, and a proposed model conceptualizing the psychosocial processes involved in the journey out of far-right extremism is introduced.

No / In the past decade, information technology and the Internet have helped fuel radicalisation and violent extremism (VE), which have transcended from the real world to cyberspace. The emergence of new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has also paved the way for insurgents to spread their propaganda using such disruptive technologies. The duality of AI proved that while such new technology can bring vast improvements to various sectors, it also has the potential to facilitate extremist behaviours and activities. Terrorist and violent rebels have shifted their ways to use technologies such as AI to spread radical ideology and propaganda, recruit new members, organize financial support and operational tactics and manage online communities. Similarly, AI is seen as a holy grail especially in predictive analytics in the race to prevent and counter-terrorist activities. This research employs qualitative methodology, in which the primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The sampling method in this research is purposive sampling and the qualitative data analysis was conducted through thematic and content analysis, in which the observations and the interview transcripts from the semi-structured interviews were examined. The primary data were triangulated with data obtained from the stakeholders. The findings revealed that while the use of AI facilitates enforcers in predicting extremist activities, detecting misinformation and countering extremist narratives, such technology has also aided terrorists and extremists in spreading mass information via automatise chatbots and coordinating information and attacks. The use of AI is said to be a double-edged sword where it serves the aims of a nation’s cybersecurity strategies, but at the same time aid extremists in fulfilling their radical goals. The legal landscape governing AI is still scarce and challenges such as duality call for a specific legal guideline or legislation to aid in the effective governing of such crime.

The new phenomena of “school attacks” has emerged in Sweden since 2015. Between 2015 and today (2022), Sweden has been a subject of four “school attacks”, whereas three of these attacks have occurred within a period of seven months. In this thesis I aim to gain an in-depth insight about how “school attacks” are represented in the Swedish national strategy against violent extremism and further, to distinguish whether “school attacks” have been securitized in the national strategy. To study this, I will apply the securitization theory by Thierry Balzacq through the methodological framework of a WPR (What’s the problem represented to be?) discourse analysis on the material consisting of the Swedish national strategy against violent extremism from 2016. The findings suggest that there appears to be an undermining of right-wing extremism and exclusion of the loneactor of extremism in the strategy’s claims regarding what is the most prominent extremism-related threat to the State of Sweden and Swedish interests. Furthermore, I was able to distinguish that “school attacks” were not securitized in the Swedish national strategy against violent extremism.

Syftet med denna studie ä̈r att analysera hur jihadiströ̈relsen Islamiska Staten (IS) anvä̈nder sig av sitt rö̈rliga bildmaterial. Fö̈rutom det vill den redogö̈ra fö̈r vilka uttryck och teman som går att uppfatta i dessa filmer. Min ambition är inte att göra några detaljstudier av filmerna, utan att analysera, lyssna på retoriken och titta på bildspråket i delar av det material som publicerats av Islamiska staten. Avsikten med denna studie är inte heller att göra några ställningstaganden, utan snarare att resonera kring frågan varför? Utifrån syftet har jag formulerat följande frågeställningar: Hur presenterar sig Islamiska staten i sitt rörliga bildmaterial? Vad kan det finnas för syften med filmerna och vilka riktar de sig till? Vad kan man se för återkommande teman i filmerna? Resultatet av studien visar att filmerna har flera syften och riktar sig till flera målgrupper. Dels till de redan övertygade med en våldsförhärligande och romantiserad bild av kriget, dels som psykologisk krigsföring för att skrämma civilbefolkningen och motståndsrörelser. Filmerna används också i provokativt syfte – särskilt riktat mot utlandet och kanske främst mot USA. Men också som en marknadsföringsstrategi för att få medial uppmärksamhet, sprida sin ideologi och genom det övertyga och rekrytera nya individer till rörelsen. I materialet från Islamiska staten går att finna såväl brutala våldsfilmer, som filmer där jihadiströrelsen framställer sig som varma och broderliga och skrattar, håller varandras händer eller lägger armen om varandra. Filmerna är avsedda att väcka olika känslor hos olika målgrupper. De grövre filmerna med starka våldsinslag kan uppfattas som mycket stötande för någon som inte delar IS världsbild, men samma film kan verka motiverande för de personer som sympatiserar med IS sätt att tolka islam. Gemensamt för filmerna som analyserats i denna studie är att det i samtliga förekommer tunga vapen och i flera av dem grova våldsinslag.

This thesis examines the musical cultures associated with extreme-right politics, considering not only what this music projects about extreme-right ideology, but also the various ways in which music functions as part of a political subculture. This analysis extends beyond the stereotypical extreme-right music associated with the skinhead subculture, often referred to as Oi!, to incorporate extreme-right engagement with genres such as metal, folk, country and classical music. The chapters explore various aspects of identity—including race, sexuality, gender and class—and their significance to and reflection through extreme-right music, as manifested in genre choices, lyrics, album artwork and the features of the music itself. The thesis also considers the way in which less explicit content is produced and the motivation behind this, the importance of myth and fantasy in extreme-right music, and the way that the conspiracist mindset—which is prevalent, albeit not homogeneous, in extreme-right culture—is articulated both in extreme-right music and in the interpretation of mainstream music as antagonistic to extreme-right goals. Music is significant to extreme-right politics for a number of reasons. It is generally understood to be an effective tool in the indoctrination and recruitment of individuals into extreme-right ideology and politics, which is why music is sometimes freely distributed, particularly to youths. The very existence of this music can act to legitimise extreme-right views through the implication that they are shared by its producers and audience. Music also acts as an important tool for the imagining of an extreme-right community through its creation of a space to meet and create networks, a function consolidated by the media surrounding music, particularly websites, forums and magazines. As well as constructing the spaces for extreme-right communities, this music plays an important role in identifying the characteristics of those communities, in articulating what it is to be “us” as contrasted to “them.” Analysis of this music suggests that it has the ability to resolve the ideological contradictions which define the extreme right, even as this analysis reveals such contradictions.