Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att undersöka vilka sociala och psykologiska processer som kan vara bidragande när unga människor radikaliseras in i våldsbejakande extemism. Avsikten har inte varit att finna en absolut sanning i orsaken till radikalisering, ambition har istället varit att bidra med en fördjupad insikt om att det finns processer som vi tenderar att utelämna. Med hjälp av en hermeneutisk ansats har tre förklaringsmodeller jämförts. Resultatet visar att radikalisering är en komplex process trots att de individer som valt att ansluta sig till våldsbejakande grupperingar och begå våldshandlingar uppvisar ett antal gemensamma riskfaktorer som går att identifiera i efterhand. Resultatet visar även att vi med tydlighet ser vår utgrupps radikalisering men tenderar att inte beakta på vilket sätt vår ingrupp bidrar till att eskalera en konflikt. Likväl förbiser stater ofta det faktum att de själva, i kampen mot terrorismen, är med och skapar den radikalisering och terrorism som de sedan ägnar stor möda åt att bekämpa och avstyra.

This thesis argues that a peace-oriented struggle has emerged in Peshawar from within the non–state space and is demonstrated at the empirical level by various associations in that space. The struggle to embrace peace and reject different forms of violence, by this associational life in Peshawar is what we call an ‘emergent civil society’. The thesis argues against those who claim that civil society cannot exist or flourish in a non-western environment. Civil Society in Peshawar is emergent, as the empirical evidence suggests, but within an overarching tendency to root this in a local cultural identity. The latter is, however, imbued with values, belief systems, and gender roles, which limit the search for peace. Two examples are the dominance of a hyper masculinity and religious orthodoxies, which undermine forms of associationalism which might promote peace. To find an indigenous cultural identity, the ‘emergent civil society’ navigates, not without tensions, across three different worldviews that includes cultural (Pakhtunwali), religious (Islam) and, to a certain extent, liberal (human rights) perspectives. The tensions between different perspectives become more frictional when the ‘emergent civil society’ advocates women’s rights and religious pluralism, which is resisted by the antithetical forces of masculinity and religious orthodoxies. Amidst these contestations, the ‘emergent civil society’, while resisting these antithetical forces, pressurizes the state also to provide favourable conditions to continue its peace-oriented struggle. This thesis, however, suggests that the ‘emergent civil society’ also needs an in-ward looking tendency to self reflect on certain challenges that seem to impact the potential for growth and development of an associational life, which can fully embrace the social conditions for peace.

För en tid sedan var det status att vara en del av fittstimmet. Ordet tycktes andas styrka, självständighet och attityd. Även politiker passade på att surfa i vågorna av stimmets strömmar. Feminismen hade anhängare i både det offentliga och hos gemene man (eller kvinna) och det var inget ögonbrynshöjande ställningstagande. Under det senaste decenniet tycks ordet fått en ny laddning och feminismen är inte längre det enda valet i strävan mot jämställdhet. Fittstimmet är upplöst och kvar finns några tappra genuspirayor som vässar tänderna för strid mot ”jämställdisternas” hotfulla nät.   I denna studie undersöks Dagens Nyheters porträttering av feminister under två tolvmånadersperioder med nio års mellanrum. Den kvantitativa studien med kvalitativa inslag besvarar i vilka huvudsakliga sammanhang feminister syns, hur de framställs och vilka skillnader det finns mellan perioderna. Forskning och begreppsdefinitioner samt en gedigen historisk tillbakablick i ämnet presenteras.   Resultatet visar hur feminister representeras främst i kulturdebatten men betydligt mer frekvent och spritt under den senare perioden. Under den tidiga perioden förknippas feminister mer med kvinnokampens mål och feminismen som ideologi. Den senare perioden utmärks av diskussioner kring feministhat, högerextremism och exkludering av specifika grupper.   Studien visar även hur feminister gått från att porträtteras odramatiskt till att placeras i ett betydligt hårdare klimat med hot och påhopp. De trivialiseras, förminskas och anklagas för att vara ologiska och mot moderskapet. Samtidigt mobiliserar enskilda feminister hårda motangrepp och efterfrågar engagemang kring den fortsatta kvinnokampens mål och betydelse i det framtida samhället. Vi visar även hur feministerna ger tillbaka med liknande strategier som de själva genom tiderna blivit utsatta för.   Studien visar trots allt en viss positiv utveckling gentemot tidigare forskning, då vissa av de mest tydliga nidbilderna inte går att finna i DN.

The recent policies of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, combined with the collapse of the Syrian state in 2011, created conditions that led to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or “ISIS.” As of November 2014, ISIS controls large areas of western and northern Iraq and northern and eastern Syria, an area roughly the size of Belgium. The rise of ISIS in the past three years has caught the attention of every major nation, especially the United States, and world leaders are justified in fearing a strong ISIS in the Middle East. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the US strategy in combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The effectiveness of the United States strategy is closely linked with numerous factors, including the history of sectarian violence in Iraq. These factors will be explored throughout the paper. This analysis sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of the US strategy and provides various ways the US can further its goals in the region.

A qualitative study regarding the situation of an extensive number of people who have joined violent Islamic extremism groups, such as the Islamic state, from the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. The study is based on previous research and relevant material on violent islamic extremism as well as interviews conducted with experts in the field. The study sheds light towards the growing problem that individuals from Gothenburg have traveled and are currently travelling to mainly Syria and fight for organizations like the Islamic state. The study aims to investigate the present situation in Gothenburg, trends that have been noted by experts, as well as who the people whom have joined violent Islamic extremist organizations in Gothenburg are. The result of the study indicates that it is legitimate to say that the city of Gothenburg are facing big issues with violent Islamic extremism. Contributing factors are, among many others, segregation, unemployment, low income, exclusion and individuals failure in work and education. Aspects such as propaganda in social media and networks of friends who think alike are expected to be two reasons why young individuals in Gothenburg have been radicalized. It is problematic to determine a typical case or stereotype of individuals in Gothenburg who have been radicalized or are in the risk zone of radicalization. However, some aspects such as a troublesome background and residing in a segregated suburbian area may increase the risk. The reason that the study focuses on violent Islamic extremism is that Swedish security police officials presently classify it as the most security threatening form of extremism in Sweden. The study focuses on Gothenburg due to the fact that it has been pointed out to be the hub for violent Islamic extremism in Sweden.

This essay studies the discourse about cooperation with the civil society within strategies and action plans considering violent extremism produced by the Swedish state and four different Swedish municipalities. The study also considers if some special actor from the civil society is mentioned more often than others in terms of cooperation. The analysis is implemented through a critical discourse analysis according to Fariclough and contextualized through Deans version of Foucaults theory about governmentality. The result shows that the discourse about cooperation used by the Swedish state impacts on the discourse used by the municipalities even though the municipalities use less harsh and imperative formulations. Religious communities are mentioned more often than other actors in terms of cooperation partners even though the documents rarely specify what kind of religious community they mean. This can partly be explained through the concept of “violent extremism” which leads to problems in actual cooperation and to feelings of alienation and stigmatization within different communities, especially Muslim.

Sedan flera år förs ett arbete i Sverige för att motverka ”våldsbejakande extremism” och ”radikalisering”, samtidigt som delar av detta arbete har kritiserats både utifrån sin hur det har definierat sina begrepp och hur det praktiskt har genomförts. Av denna anledning är det av intresse att närmare granska detta arbete, denna undersökning har undersökt frågeställningarna (I) hur olika typer av politiskt våld har betraktats över tid, (II) vad inbegrips i termen ”våldsbejakande extremism”, samt (III) hur den svenska statens arbete mot våldsbejakande extremism ser ut. Detta har gjorts utifrån en kritisk diskursanalys av flertalet dokument framtagna på det offentligas initiativ (däribland rapporter, handlingsplaner och direktiv), samt en översiktlig idéhistorisk genomgång menad att ge en historisk bakgrund till analysen. De statliga dokumenten har främst undersökts utifrån hur de definierar sina begrepp samt vilka förslag som förs fram för att motverka politiskt våld, medan den idéhistoriska genomgången görs som en del av uppsatsens teoridel. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna för arbetet är framförallt Pontara, Benjamin, Žižek, Galtung och Weber. I undersökningen framkommer att staten framförallt agerar ur en hegeliansk och dualistisk uppfattning om staten som den aktör som kan överbrygga samhällets motsättningar samt att statens agerande inte bör betraktas efter samma måttstock som andra samhällsaktörers. Begreppet ”våldsbejakande extremisms” definition varierar i de olika dokument, men den vanligaste definitionen är att våldsbejakande innebär ett aktivt eller passivt stöd till ideologiskt motiverat våld, medan extremism definieras som att inte acceptera en demokratisk samhällsordning där politiska mål och samhällsförändringar kan påverkas genom politiken och demokratiska processer. Vidare beskrivs tre miljöer som pekas ut som våldsbejakande, vit makt-miljön, den utomparlamentariska miljön samt den islamistiska miljön, dock tonas ideologierna ner till förmån för individuella och miljömässiga riskfaktorer till så kallad radikalisering. Fokuset i de statliga dokumenten ligger på förebyggande arbete i olika form, och ofta på lokal nivå. I de statliga dokumenten diskuteras överhuvudtaget inte statens egen våldsanvändning, vilket kan tolkas som att det våld som utövas av en demokratisk stat per definition är legitimt och lagligt. Detta osynliggör statens laguppehållande våld. Bland de olika våldsbejakande miljöerna finns en bredd av uppfattningar kring våld, moral och politik, vilket leder till en problematik då de klumpas ihop till en generaliserad modell över all våldsbejakande extremism, och risken är att förståelsen blir grumlig och åtgärderna ineffektiva. Därutöver är det problematiskt hur grupper och individer reduceras till att vara en potentiell risk, samt att offentliganställda uppmanas att närmast åsiktsregistrera dem som de kommer i kontakt med professionellt.

The major subject of this graduation thesis is political extremism in its basic forms. In the theoretical part the author focuses in particular on division of political extremism and description of individual extremists groups. He also addresses criminal activities committed by extremists. Large attention is paid mainly to racially motivated criminality. The main objective of this graduation thesis is to ascertain the opinions of two different target groups on the extremist movements and the forms of criminal activities committed by them. The first group of informants consists of people who were brought up in the time of totalitarian regime. The second group of informants is made up of people who were brought up after the revolution in 1989. The output should be the comparison of the opinions, positions and prejudices of these two groups of informants in respect of extremists and their activities. In the practical part the qualitative research method is used. In order to collect the information, the author used the method of phenomenological interviews that were structured and prepared beforehand. The informants were people living in České Budějovice or its close surroundings. Their number and selection was purposeful to secure equal representation of men and women so that the data contain the opinions of both these groups.

The threat from violent extremism has become prioritized in the Swedish political discourse. Right wing extremism is the most common form of extremism. However, Islamist extremism is seen as the most severe threat against the Swedish society. Previous research indicates that there is an institutionalized view that foreigners are seen as more dangerous than home-grown extremists. The overall aim of this study is to examine how identity can contribute to the understanding of violent extremism as a threat. This is done by using a qualitative text analysis guided by framing and securitization theory in order to analyse how Swedish press has framed two extremist crimes. The study concludes that media frames the two threats differently and that the right wing-extremist is perceived as an individual unlike the Islamist perpetrator who is portrayed as a representative for a greater threat.

To use fiction as educational material in school is proven to be effective and a good strategy to help students to understand and discuss other perspectives in difficult questions (Löfstedt, 2011). The aim with this essay is to evaluate Saracenens radicalization and the religious influence in Jag är pilgrimen written by Terry Hayes (2016). This was done through James Wallers (2007) theory of radicalization where three aspects of impact where analyzed (Waller, 2007). With a qualitative content analysis on chosen part of Hayes book (2016) three questions were answered. -          How can Saracenens radicalization be described thru James Wallers (2007) radicalization process and what role dose religion play in this process? -          Can we call Saracenens planning against USA as terrorism or religious terrorism? -          How can chose parts of Hayes book (2016) be used in education for Religion 2 in Swedish gymnasium to meet following core content in syllabus: Religions and outlooks on life of importance for people's identity, affiliation, community and view of gender equality (Skolverket, 2017)? The conclusion from the analysis is that Saracenens radicalization is comparable with Wallers theory and that it is also possible to call Saracenens planning religious terrorism (Jones, 2008). As for the third question, the conclusion is that the material meets the core content well and can be used as a ground for discussion in classroom about radicalization and how religion affects individual’s life.