Resumen de A social network approach to jihadist mobilization: analyzing radicalization and recruitment among underage youth in Spain
Research in the field of terrorism studies has consistently shown that most militants of terrorist organizations were previously connected to people active in the extremist movement before their recruitment. While this finding evinces a strong correlation between social networks and terrorism, specific analytical gaps still prevent us from understanding how the relationship works.
This thesis aims to address this research gap by exploring the role of social ties in the cycle of jihadist mobilization of underage youth that unfolded in Spain during the years of the Syrian civil war and the emergence and fall of IS (2012-2019). It pursues two goals: first, to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of the role of interpersonal connections in the process of jihadist radicalization and recruitment; and second, to explain variations in the impact of social ties on youth participation in jihadist activities (i.e., participation may not take place even when some ties support it; participation may take place even when some ties reject it).
Building on theoretical and empirical approaches from social movement studies, political psychology studies, and terrorism studies, this dissertation develops an analysis based on original, extensive data on youth mobilized by the jihadist movement in Spain, as well as on agents of radicalization and recruitment who attempted to mobilize minors for global jihad.
The dissertation offers three key insights: [1] social connections are integral to the various phases of the jihadist mobilization of youth, as they trigger multiple mechanisms that promote ideological and attitudinal alignment with global jihad, shape motivations to engage in jihadist activities, and facilitate recruitment by terrorist organizations; [2] differences in the characteristics of social networks can account for why only a fraction of those who support global jihad ultimately participate in it, insofar as participants possess stronger and more numerous connections to jihadist militants than non-participants; [3] countervailing ties that oppose participation in jihadist activities may unintendedly contribute to mobilization by unleashing a reactive reaffirmation of ideological alignments and collective identities, as well as a reinforcement of ties with like-minded individuals.
These findings lead to two key conclusions: first, social ties are decisive in increasing a young person's chances of participating in jihadist action, although they do not guarantee it as an ultimate consequence of the mobilization process; and second, the overall mobilization process among young jihadist sympathizers is the result of the interplay between social ties with conflicting orientations (facilitating and opposing).
