ABSTRACT
Radicalisation does not happen somewhere ‘out there’. It is not even ‘something’ out there. What we have come to label ‘radicalisation’ and our act of labelling it is only justifiable through some obvious differences in the ideas and behaviour of a minority in the context of a majority. That, however, does not make radical people essentially different from ‘normal’ people and the radicalisation process essentially different from ‘normal’ social processes. Islamist radicalisation needs to be equally seen as a social process rather than a sui generis phenomenon still searching for its place somewhere between journalistic accounts and actual terrorism. Whereas many Islamist radicals engage in terrorism at one time or another, not all Islamist radicals are terrorists. Being an Islamist radical can, but most of the times does not, mean self-immolation. Most of the time it means disseminating information on the Internet, fighting in Iraq, gathering donations, preaching, and so on. It is, as some of the subjects of this study say themselves ‘what we do’, ‘our path’ – an occupation. The question to ask in this context is therefore not, ‘Why does one radicalise?’ or ‘Why or how does one become a terrorist?’ but rather, ‘What is the process through which one decides for an Islamist radical occupation rather than another one?’ In other words, what is the Islamist radical occupational choice process, how does it unfold and how is it different from other occupational change processes?
