About
The Internet, social media and popular culture are important for religious extremist groups. They are utilized to collect funds, as well as for training, planning, and cyber warfare. Websites and social media are also important arenas where contact can be established with young people vulnerable to radicalization.
In this project, we examined closely the rhetoric used in online jihadist magazines and “jihadi rap”, and their appeal for potential supporters.
Methods
The project was based on a qualitative study of material published online by al-Qaida, the Islamic State and similar groups. Analysis of online magazines, websites and propaganda videos shows the distinctive visual features and basic stories characterizing their rhetoric.
Results
Our studies demonstrated that violent jihadist organizations promote notions of a Muslim utopia and legitimate violence by emphasizing the suffering of Muslims. This rhetoric has a broad appeal within Muslim communities. In parallel, a narrower kind of rhetoric and symbolism appears in sensational “spectacles of violence”. This type of subcultural provocation appeals to a much smaller group of sensation-seeking men who glorify violence. We also investigated cultural expression of “jihadi cool”, the relationship between jihadist and extreme right-wing online propaganda, and the coverage of terrorism in mainstream media.
Publications
- Islamic State propaganda: Between social movement framing and subcultural provocation
- A cultural criminology of ‘New’ jihad: Insights from propaganda magazines
- Rap, Islam and Jihadi Cool: The attractions of the Western jihadi subculture
Student dissertations
- "Be prepared for bad news": Framing terrorism in Norwegian news media
- The chosen few: A comparative study of The Prophet’s Ummah and The Nordic Resistance Movement’s language and visual communication
- Stories, style & radicalization: A cultural and narrative criminological study of jihadi propaganda magazines
- The visualized story of martyrdom: Exploring jihadist mythology through suicide farewell videos
Contact us for papers that are unpublished or behind a paywall.