Conceptualising the waves of Islamist radicalisation in the UK

• Published in: Journal of contemporary European studies Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 705 - 718
• Main Author: Abbas, Tahir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.07.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Belonging; Case studies; Community; Ethnic identity; Fractures; Global local relationship; Identity; Islam; Islamism; Muslims; Political science; radicalisation; Radicalism; Resistance; Segmentation; Social movements; Sociological aspects; United Kingdom; waves; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1478-2804; 1478-2790
• DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2023.2204421

In recent years, there has been an unprecedented increase in interest in the study of radicalisation. To comprehend this phenomenon, numerous political science and sociological perspectives are emphasised to determine social movement conceptualisations. Using British Muslim youth as a case study, the goal of this article is to explore the themes of identity, resistance, racialisation, and mobilisation as antecedents to Islamist radicalisation. In other words, the few young Muslims who have turned to radicalism have done so due to fractures in their gendered sense of status and belonging at the local, national, and international levels. In this article, I conduct a theoretical and conceptual review of five distinct stages of Islamist radicalisation in the context of the United Kingdom, all of which are influenced by local, national, and international concerns. This discussion supports the argument that these waves of radicalism result from identity fragmentation in local communities and worsen as a result of international events. In the British context, the dangers of radicalism are determined by the intersections of local, global, and international events, or at the micro, meso, and macro levels, and these indicate the greatest risks linked to this phenomenon.