Opis: Engineers of Jihad - Steffen Hertog, Diego Gambetta

The violent actions of a few extremists can alter the course of history, yet there persists a yawning gap between the potential impact of these individuals and what we understand about them. In Engineers of Jihad, Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog uncover two unexpected facts, which they imaginatively leverage to narrow that gap: they find that a disproportionate share of Islamist radicals come from an engineering background, and that Islamist and right-wing extremism have more in common than either does with left-wing extremism, in which engineers are absent while social scientists and humanities students are prominent. Searching for an explanation, they tackle four general questions about extremism: Under which socioeconomic conditions do people join extremist groups? Does the profile of extremists reflect how they self-select into extremism or how groups recruit them? Does ideology matter in sorting who joins which group? Lastly, is there a mindset susceptible to certain types of extremism? Using rigorous methods and several new datasets, they explain the link between educational discipline and type of radicalism by looking at two key factors: the social mobility (or lack thereof) for engineers in the Muslim world, and a particular mindset seeking order and hierarchy that is found more frequently among engineers. Engineers' presence in some extremist groups and not others, the authors argue, is a proxy for individual traits that may account for the much larger question of selective recruitment to radical activism. Opening up markedly new perspectives on the motivations of political violence, Engineers of Jihad yields unexpected answers about the nature and emergence of extremism. "This is an important study... The wealth of statistical data they bring to bear provides what was once a hypothesis with solid empirical grounding."--Malise Ruthven, Financial Times "[A]n interesting and important book... Definitely recommended."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "That's really good work, and they deserve credit for that observation... It is thrilling and intriguing as a theoretical issue."--Jeffrey I. Victoroff, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Chronicle of Higher Education "Wonderful."--Jacob N. Shapiro, Princeton University, Chronicle of Higher Education "[They] really help us refine our understanding of what the risk factors are."--Jessica Stern, Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies, Chronicle of Higher EducationPreface vii 1. The Education of Islamist Extremists 1 At the Origins 3 A Systematic Test 6 The Saudi Exception 19 Selection Effects 21 Conclusions 32 2. Relative Deprivation in the Islamic World 34 Frustrated Ambitions and Relative Deprivation 34 Beyond Egypt 38 Are Engineers Especially Deprived? 42 The Saudi Exception Again 52 Conclusions, and Facts That Do Not Fit 54 3. Relative Deprivation Probed 60 Western-Based Jihadis 60 Violent vs. Nonviolent Opposition 72 Religious vs. Secular Militants 76 Die-hard Militants vs. Defectors 80 Conclusions 83 4. The Ideology of Islamist Extremism Compared 85 Historical Links 86 Shared Values 88 Shared Tastes and Beliefs 90 Radical Ideologies Compared 94 Conclusions 98 5. The Education of Other Extremists 100 Left-wing Extremists 101 Right-wing Extremists 106 Are the Dividing Lines Robust? 113 Extremists Compared: Islamists, Leftists, and Rightists 120 Conclusions and Summary So Far 125 6. Mind-sets for Extremists 128 Traits for Types of Extremists 129 The Three Traits among Graduates 134 Enter Women 141 One More Trait: "Simplism" 146 Traits and Disciplines 150 Conclusions 154 7. Conclusions 159 Bibliography 167 Index 185

Szczegóły: Engineers of Jihad - Steffen Hertog, Diego Gambetta

Tytuł: Engineers of Jihad
Autor: Steffen Hertog, Diego Gambetta
Wydawnictwo: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691145174
Rok wydania: 2016
Ilość stron: 208
Oprawa: Twarda
Waga: 0.46 kg

Recenzje: Engineers of Jihad - Steffen Hertog, Diego Gambetta