Lexington Books
Pages: 166
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-7391-7770-9 • Hardback • December 2012 • $120.00 • (£92.00)
978-0-7391-9732-5 • Paperback • June 2014 • $58.99 • (£45.00)
978-0-7391-7771-6 • eBook • December 2012 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
Christine Sixta Rinehart is an assistant adjunct professor of women’s and gender studies at the University of South Carolina.
Introduction: The Radicalization of Social Movements and Political Parties
Chapter 1. Revolutionizing Terrorism: The Radicalization of Hasan al-Banna and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
Chapter 2. Radicalizing Ekin: The Transformation of Euzkadi ta Askatasuna (ETA)
Chapter 3. Forsaking Colombia: The Creation and Radicalization of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC)
Chapter 4. Ceylon Tigers: The Creation and Radicalization of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Conclusion and Analysis
This timely book considers multiple manifestations of political violence in the United States and abroad. Rinehart specifically seeks to discover the causal factors of radicalization in mass movements—the group dynamics that transform nonviolent social movements into organizations employing terrorism. Three radicalizing factors are identified: charismatic leaders deciding to use terrorism, obediently implemented by followers; frustration as the political goals of a movement are not accomplished by peaceful means and violence ensues; ascendance of violent personalities to leadership positions in social movements. This multidisciplinary conceptual framework is applied to four case studies: the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the Basque Euzkadi ta Askatasuna of Spain, Fuerzas Armados Revolucionarios de Colombia, and Ceylon's Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The concluding chapter analyzes the similarities and differences among the case studies and points to future research topics such as the radicalizing impact of universities, the utility of Marxist ideology, reasons for dissolution of terrorist groups, and the rise of religious terrorism, a most relevant phenomenon to policy makers worldwide. This is a good start on the study of radicalization, an extremely complex phenomenon in need of more extensive and methodologically complex examination. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels.
— Choice Reviews
An interesting and important account of the role of certain types of social movements in originating and causing terrorism. The author points out that while many terrorist organizations had begun as social movements seeking to achieve their objectives through nonviolent tactics, over time terrorist tactics became their 'method of choice.' To explain how such transitions from non-violence to violence occurred, the author examines the individual characteristics, group dynamics, and external forces in how such phenomena occurred in the case studies of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, the Basque ETA in Spain, the FARC in Colombia, and the LTTE in Sri Lanka. The author finds that terrorist groups emerge from social movements under certain conditions that include the presence of frustration 'that led to aggression' and leadership by a charismatic leader that possesses a 'violent personality' (pp.141-142). Also of interest is the author’s recommendation for future research, particularly the call for scholars to 'study why terrorist organizations disaffiliate or die.' (p.143)
— Perspectives on Terrorism