Radicalization and media The Role of New Technologies and the Media Ico Maly

Content Radicalization & Context General remarks New Media Rise of the clash of civilization paradigm Mass media & radicalization New media & radicalization

Radicalization & context Radicalization Is not an Islamic problem It is not a religious problem either It is not a cultural problem It can not even be located in one party only It is a process/a relation Radicalization doesn’t come out of the blue: it is nurtured in specific contexts and by specific persons and organizations who use specific instruments Media take an important role in the creation of context and as instruments for ideological strive

Radicalization & context Two historical evolutions since the nineties The rise of ‘the clash of civilizations’-paradigm in mass media The rise of new media-technologies Match these with the current reporting and the discourses of important politicians on the conflict in Syria And the mobilization by radical jihadist movements online And we start to see the contours of the context of radicalization

Radicalization & Mass Media The rise of the Clash of Civilization- discourse Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, new discourses on the world arise Francis Fukuyama’s end of history and Huntington’s clash of civilizations Islam is being portrayed in these discourses as ‘the other’, the dangerous ‘other’ Islam and Islamic countries are portrayed as the mirror image of our self-glorificated image as the carriers of democracy, human rights, equality, …

These discourses serves on a globalized level for the ‘legitimation’ of the wars against Iraq (2X) and Afghanistan Democracy became for many Muslims a synonym for an occupying force The War on terror became a synonym for war against Islam These discourses also had big effects in other western countries like Belgium Since the end of the eighties and certainly in the beginning of the nineties, we saw the rise of the extreme right Flemish Bloc on the basis of anti-migrant-discourse The response of the mainstream parties was the development of the integration paradigm This installed an ideology of homogeneism: we have to share the same norms and values if we want to be a society Migrants (others) are a menace to this homogeneity and thus a threat to our society. That why they should integrate and develop These demands will have an increasing influence, on the left wing as well. Radicalization & Mass Media

The result was Culturalizing ‘the Other’ The Other is just a culture Integration is a cultural problem Criminality is a cultural problem Unemployment is a cultural problem Gender inequality: cultural problem Macho behavior: cultural problem School results: cultural problem Homophobia: cultural problem The other was seen as a Muslim and so by default imagined as anti- democracy, anti-human rights, … Such discourses create and legitimizes racism and exclusions and fuels radicalization: the message is: you don’t belong here, democracy is not for you, freedom of opinion is for us, not you, … Radicalization & Mass Media

Radicalization & New media Rise of new media Globalized gaming , Skype, Satellite, … YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, … New media results in globalized identities & movements Hip hop, Skaters culture, emo, … Anonymous, Occupy movement, … Not different for Islam: Al Qaeda used the web, but also fashionable Muslims us it: hijabista’s, European Islam & radical Islamic movements

Radicalization & New media

If you look at mobilization towards the conflict in Syria by Islamic movements you see that is mainly based on social networks The best known example is the Sharia4Belgium network You see a ‘small’ number of youngsters that are fan of these pages that pop up from different European countries In Belgium: Free Abu Imran (148) & Jean Louis Le Soumis Page Pour Mes Rappel (399 likes) or in Holland: Nederlandse Mujahidin in Syrië (1523 likes) On these pages youngsters are engaged in political –Islamist talk and sometimes even openly celebrate jihadi culture and people like Bin Laden These pages are closely linked tot international pages that celebrate Jihad on Facebook like for example Nûr El Jihad Nûr El Jihad is active on Facebook an YouTube Celebrates Jihad, violence and Bin Laden

Radicalization & New media

Also in Holland we see similar pages appear on these social media like Facebook Nederlandse Mujahidin in Syrië (1523 likes) The page celebrates the Dutch Mujahidin and the Martirs They also engage in political talk on the relation between ‘the West’ and ‘Islam’ This discourse is quite similar as the western version of the clash of civilizations but with reverse roles

Radicalization & New media

On these pages we see a mixture of islamist talk and the celebration of violence Notice; a lot of these pages use Dutch, French or English: By this we can conclude that are set up by Europeans and are aiming to reach Europeans The discourse is often an mixture of religious as well as political talk with references to the clash-of-civilization-discourse The West (ergo: democracy, freedom of speech, … ) is against US Strong US vs Them-discourse: West=bad vs Islam(=jihadist islam) =good Political mobilization against Assad Condemning Western non-intervention The gruesome images of the behaviour of American Soldiers and the Assad regime are used to underline the idea that ‘the west’ is anti-Muslim and is waging a war on islam

Conclusion: Radicalization & media

Mass media and new media have played a role in the radicalization of Muslims in Europe: In the last decennia media broadcasted politicians, intellectuals and experts that voiced the same discourse (but in different gradations) on the clash of civilizations That created a polarization between Muslims an non-Muslims It also had as an effect a rise in racism and exclusion of Muslims in our society On a global scale this discourse was the legitimation of three wars against ‘Muslim countries’.

Conclusion: Radicalization & media Mass media and new media have played a role in the radicalization of Muslims in Europe: In the last decennia media broadcasted politicians, intellectuals and experts that voiced the same discourse (but in different gradations) on the clash of civilizations That created a polarization between Muslims and non-Muslims It also had as an effect a rise in racism and exclusion of Muslims in our society On a global scale this discourse was the legitimation of three wars against ‘Muslim countries’. It is in this context that we should understand ‘radicalization’ It is a process were ‘our radicalization’ matches ‘their radicalization’