Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Terrorism
- Creators: Ali, Souad T.
Description
This dissertation explores the various online radicalization and recruitment practices of groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, as well as Salafi Jihadists in general. I will also outline the inadequacies of the federal government's engagement with terrorist / Islamist ideologies and explore the ways in which early 20th century foundational Islamist theorists like Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Qutb, and Abul ala Mawdudi have affected contemporary extremist Islamist groups, while exploring this myth of the ideal caliphate which persists in the ideology of contemporary extremist Islamist groups. In a larger sense, I am arguing that exploitation of the internet (particularly social networking platforms) in the radicalization of new communities of followers is much more dangerous than cyberterrorism (as in attacks on cyber networks within the government and the private sector), which is what is most often considered to be the primary threat that terrorists pose with their presence on the internet. Online radicalization should, I argue, be given more consideration when forming public policy because of the immediate danger that it poses, especially given the rise of microterrorism. Similarly, through the case studies that I am examining, I am bringing the humanities into the discussion of extremist (religious) rhetorics, an area of discourse that those scholars have largely ignored.
ContributorsSalihu, Flurije (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Corman, Steven (Committee member) / Gee, James P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In this paper, I define a religious-political phenomenon called cultist terror groups. A cultist terror (ct) group is a nationalist insurgent organization which employs extreme, ritualized violence, and establishes a cultist doctrine, commonly borrowing elements from established religions. IS, or the Islamic State, is the latest example of a cultist terror group. This paper examines and contextualizes IS by analyzing death cults throughout modern history, and contrasts these case studies with violent, religious, political groups that do not meet the heuristic characteristics of a cultist terror group. Cultist terror groups are so named to drive home the idea that these groups belong to a subset of the broader, religious terror (rt) group category. The paper aims to discern the key components of cultist terror groups that distinguish these groups from other violent, religious groups with political goals (a political theology). These include identity and strategy components. Specifically, it presents a concise set of hypotheses about how cultist terror groups create in-group solidarity (e.g., through synchronous activities), recruit members, prevent defection, select targets, and how these aspects differentiate cultist terror groups from other violent religious organizations with political theologies.
ContributorsBriggs, Noah Blakemore (Author) / Siroky, David S (Thesis director) / Bustikova, Lenka (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
We live in an era where the notion of feminism is widespread. Just walking on the Arizona State University campus, one can see people wearing t-shirts and holding coffee cups that say "FEMINIST," working from computers covered in stickers calling for gender equity. I, myself, am a feminist. On any given day, I fit in perfectly with many others on campus - sporting a t-shirt that says, "Raise Boys and Girls the Same Way," and lugging around my laptop covered in feminist propaganda stickers. I subscribe to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's definition of feminism. In essence, a feminist is "a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes," regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, and class (Adichie, 2012). Through the lens of this definition and those like it, women have made many advancements (though there is still significant progress to be made in this arena, particularly for women of color) – more women participate in the workforce and education, women have gained greater autonomy over their bodies, and domestic responsibilities are, in many societies, no longer only assumed by women.
ContributorsFletcher, Rachel Aliya (Author) / Ali, Souad T. (Thesis director) / Gallab, Abdullahi A. (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05