Rethinking Religion and Radicalization - by Michele Grossman & H a Hellyer Hardcover

About the Book

Book Synopsis

With contributions from a range of regions and disciplines, this open access volume offers theoretically compelling and empirically rich new insights on the relationship between religion and violent extremism.

The role of religion and religiosity in processes of radicalisation to violence has been at the forefront of debates around terrorism and extremism for decades. The events of 9/11 gave new impetus to these debates, cementing assumptions about the role of Islam as the key driver for religiously inspired violent radicalisation, and defining the way in which radicalisation to violence is understood. The years since 9/11 have seen a striking diversification in the terrorist and violent extremist landscape, yet the treatment of how religious beliefs, concepts and histories are entangled with established and emergent violent ideologies and social movements has changed far less. By looking beyond Islamist-inspired or attributed terrorism, this volume explores how violent extremists instrumentalise religion and religiosity in unexpected ways, from Orthodox Christianity and Hindutva to 'conspirituality', far-right extremism, and single-issue social movements.

The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Review Quotes

"Grossman and Hellyer have edited a thought-provoking anthology ... A must for all academic libraries. Highly recommended." --CHOICE

"A much-needed and forward-thinking ... empirically grounded exploration of the diverse relationships between religion and violent radicalization across cultures, regions and religions ... The result is a book with an innovative and holistic analytical perspective, which acknowledges theoretical complexity while generating a new explanatory framework for it. Hence, it provides new theoretical and empirical contributions that push the discipline forward." --International Affairs

"This superlative collection of essays sheds new light on the complex connections between violent extremism and religion across nations, ideologies and faiths. Infused with rich, thoughtful engagement from leading scholars, the book is a captivating contribution to our knowledge and understanding of these challenging and urgent issues." --John Horgan, Georgia State University, USA

"This volume asks us to reassess how we think about religion and radicalisation. It brings together renowned experts and original, empirically rich contributions on radicalisation, religion and extremism, far-right extremism and violent radicalisation that dissect questions of identity politics, ideology and history and how they intersect with radicalisation and religion. It is a valuable source and a must-read for policy makers, academics, analysts and the public alike." --Professor Raihan Ismail, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, UK

About the Author

Dr Michele Grossman, AM is Professor and Research Chair in Diversity and Community Resilience at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, where she leads the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies.

Dr H.A. Hellyer FRHistS is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London, and also a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington DC.