The growing numbers of terror attacks in Europe in recent times has made the concept of radicalization a sensitive phenomenon, most especially, Islamic radicalization. The activities of Islamic extremists and terrorists have been identified with a good number of European citizens, who have joined the Islamic State (IS) and engaged in acts of terror against their own citizens and governments. Radicalisation has been used as a weapon by the Islamic State to recruit some European citizens as its members in order to perpetuate its objectives in Europe. The objective of this project is to examine how the Islamic State has been able to radicalize some European citizens as its members and build its network across the continent. It seeks to critically analyse the influence of the Islamic State ideology on European citizens, which has consequently led and could further lead to the participation of some European citizens in terrorist engagements. This work seeks to respond to the puzzle: how is it possible for the Islamic State to secure the interest of some Europeans into terrorism, considering the distance between Europe and the Middle East and the high standard of living as well as education that is available in Europe? In this mini-dissertation, the relevance of the study is pointed out in today Europe as far as peace and security development of the continent is concerned. This research makes use of secondary sources of data collection to investigate the study and its theoretical analyses is drawn from social network and contagion theories in order to shed more light on the discourse of the radicalisation of European citizens as Islamic State members. Specifically, this mini-dissertation discusses a brief origin and objectives of the Islamic State, the ideological perspectives of the group, reasons behind the radicalization of Europeans citizens as well as channels of radicalizing European citizens. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Modern European Languages / MA / Unrestricted

This dissertation presents research that is broadly concerned with comparative understanding of the concept of citizenship and its relationship to nationhood, most particularly as it relates to contemporary government policies - what Michel Foucault refers to as 'studies of governmentality' - in Britain and Hong Kong. A major consideration is the assessment of how modern states seek to imbue citizenship with new meanings by mobilising connections to reimagined 'national cultures' and 'national values' as a way of expanding power and limiting access to citizenship. Two cases are selected and examined in this research to elucidate the above concern and consideration. The first is Hong Kong, where a compulsory subject Moral and National Education was proposed in 2012 to cultivate students' positive values and enhance their 'national qualities'. The second is Britain, where all schools and universities since 2015 must by law carry out the Prevent Duty to assess the risk of students becoming terrorists and beginning in 2014 where all schools must actively promote 'fundamental British values'. In both contexts, the education policies and their associated discourses claimed to protect 'our culture', defend 'our values', and promote understanding of 'our nation' Curriculum documents, policy documents, and parliamentary reports related to these education policies are collected and critically analysed in a genealogical approach to reveal (a) the expressions of 'national values' and citizenship in these policy and associated political texts, (b) how these texts and associated discourses influenced the re-imagination of nations, and (c) how the national perspectives expressed ideologically - especially in relation to the narrowing of borders through policies - recast, mediate or alter conceptions of citizenship. The comparative policy landscape in Britain and Hong Kong is assessed by deploying an interdisciplinary framework that addresses nation, citizenship, borders, and governmentality in a unique way. The study of the cases, in return, demonstrates how this framework can be applied to analysing education policies and assessing the rationalities and effects of these policies.