Becoming a European homegrown jihadist : a multilevel analysis of involvement in the Dutch Hofstadgroup, 2002-2005 / Bart Schuurman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schuurman, Bart, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1932 Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Terrorism--Europe--Case studies.

Terrorism.

Terrorism--Netherlands--Case studies.

Terrorists--Europe.

Terrorists.

Terrorists--Netherlands.

Netherlands.

Europe.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

265 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, [2018]

Summary:

How and why do people become involved in European homegrown jihadism? This book addresses this question through an in-depth study of the Dutch Hofstadgroup, infamous for causing the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 and for plotting numerous other terrorist attacks. The Hofstadgroup offers a window into the broader phenomenon of homegrown jihadism that arose in Europe in 2004 and is still with us today. Utilizing interviews with former Hofstadgroup participants and the extensive police files on the group, this book overcomes the scarcity of high-quality data that has beset the study of terrorism for decades. The book advances a multicausal and multilevel understanding of involvement in European homegrown jihadism. It stresses that the factors that initiate involvement are separate from those that sustain it, which in turn are again likely to differ from those that bring some individuals to actual acts of terrorism.

Contents:

1.1 Studying involvement in European homegrown jihadism 15

1.2 Existing literature on the Hofstadgroup 18

1.2.1 Journalistic accounts of the Hofstadgroup 18

1.2.2 Primary-sources-based academic research on the Hofstadgroup 19

1.2.3 Secondary-sources-based academic research on the Hofstadgroup 21

1.2.4 Insights by proxy 22

1.2.5 Research on the Hofstadgroup by government agencies 23

1.3 Claim to originality 24

1.5 Research method 25

1.6.1 Using police files to study terrorism 27

1.6.2 Using interviews to study terrorism 29

1.7 Ethical guidelines 31

2 Studying involvement in terrorism 35

2.1 Issues in terrorism research 35

2.1.1 An overreliance on secondary sources 36

2.2 Making sense of involvement in terrorism 39

2.2.1 Structural-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 42

2.2.2 Group-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 44

2.2.3 Individual-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 45

2.2.4 Interrelated perspectives 47

2.3 Limitations 47

2.4 A definitional debate 49

2.4.1 Terrorism 49

2.4.2 Radicalism and extremism 51

2.4.3 Jihad and homegrown jihadism 52

3 A history of the Hofstadgroup 55

3.1 The emergence of homegrown jihadism in the Netherlands 55

3.2 2002: The Hofstadgroup's initial formation 56

3.3 2003: Would-be foreign fighters and international connections 57

3.4 2004: Individualistic plots and the murder of Theo van Gogh 60

3.4.1 Towards the murder of Theo van Gogh 63

3.4.2 Violent resistance to arrest 67

3.5 2005: From 'Hofstad' to 'Piranha' 68

3.5.1 Spring and summer 2005: Renewed signs of terrorist intentions 69

3.5.2 The second and third potential plots come to light 71

3.6 An overview of the court cases 74

4 The ideological and organizational nature of the Hofstadgroup 77

4.1 Drawing the Hofstadgroup's boundaries 77

4.2 Homegrown jihadism 78

4.2.1 The Hofstadgroup's homegrown aspects 78

4.3 Ideology and terrorism 79

4.3.1 The Hofstadgroup's ideology 82

4.4 Defining terrorist organizations 87

4.4.1 The Hofstadgroup's organizational structure 88

4.5 Group involvement in terrorism? 92

5 Structural-level factors: Facilitating and motivating involvement 97

5.1 Structural-level factors influencing involvement in terrorism 97

5.2 Preconditions: Providing opportunities for terrorism 99

5.2.2 Popular support for terrorism 101

5.2.3 External assistance 102

5.2.4 Social or cultural facilitation of violence 106

5.2.5 Ineffective counterterrorism 107

5.2.6 Political opportunity structure 109

5.3 Preconditions: Providing motives for terrorism 112

5.3.1 (Relative) deprivation and intergroup inequality 112

5.3.2 Political grievances 116

5.3.3 A clash of value systems? 118

5.4 Structural-level precipitants: Submission, part 1 120

6 Group dynamics I: Initiating and sustaining involvement 123

6.1 Group dynamics and involvement in terrorism 123

6.2 Terrorist group formation 125

6.3 Social identity and the benefits of group membership 129

6.4 Socialization into a worldview conducive to terrorism 132

6.5 The underground life 133

6.6 Social learning theory 136

6.7 The influence of leaders 139

6.8 Peer pressure 141

7 Group dynamics II: Involvement in acts of terrorist violence 147

7.1 Group-level explanations for terrorist violence 147

7.2 Organizational structure and lethality 148

7.3 Group influences that lower barriers to violent behavior 149

7.3.1 Diffusion of responsibility and deindividuation 149

7.3.2 Authorization of violence 150

7.4 The rationality of terrorism 154

7.5 Terrorism as the result of strategic considerations 156

7.6 Terrorism as the result of organizational dynamics 159

7.6.1 The group as a vehicle for redemptive violence 161

7.6.2 The influence of role models on the use of violence 162

7.6.3 Interaction with the Dutch authorities 163

7.6.4 Competition with other extremist groups 164

8 Individual-level analysis I: Cognitive explanations 169

8.1 Structuring the individual-level of analysis 169

8.2 Radicalization 171

8.3 Fanaticism 177

8.4 Cognitive openings and unfreezing 181

8.5 Cognitive dissonance and moral disengagement 185

9 Individual-level analysis II: Terrorists as psychologically distinctive 195

9.1 Terrorists as psychopaths 196

9.2 Psychoanalysis 198

9.3 Significance quests and identity-related alienation 200

9.4 The terrorist personality or profile 204

9.5 The role of emotions: anger 209

9.6 Mortality salience 212

10.1 Key findings 218

10.2 Implications for research on European homegrown jihadism 222

10.2.1 The 'driving force' of involvement processes is liable to change 223

10.2.2 Involvement in extremist and terrorist groutakes various forms 224

10.2.3 The nature of the group shapes the involvement experience 225

10.2.4 Fanaticism rather than radicalization 226

10.2.5 Involvement as personal expression rather than strategic calculation 227

10.2.6 Neither victims nor psychopaths 228

10.2.7 The often-overlooked role of chance 228

10.3 Policy-relevant implications 229

10.4 Limitations and future research 230

10.5 Toward a more empirical study of terrorism 232.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-258) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1932 Fund.

ISBN:

9462986932

9789462986930

9789048538300

9048538300

OCLC:

1010954770