ABSTRACT

This chapter is a critical assessment of the merits and limitations of socio-theology as a research method in social science research on terrorism. Though there is a notable lack of field research on terrorism and direct interviews with participants, this chapter will evaluate the utility of socio-theology in this context based on the author’s personal experiences of conducting ethnographic field research when studying white ethno-nationalism, specifically, and religious violence, generally, in the United States. This chapter argues for the need to incorporate methodological tools from diverse disciplines to supplement the drawbacks of socio-theology.