ABSTRACT
Since the Syrian civil war began in 2012, more than 700 Indonesians – some of them graduates of pesantrens or Islamic boarding schools – fought alongside 35,000 foreign fighters from 120 countries who travelled to join Islamist groups trying to overthrow the Assad regime. In order for individuals to make the life-altering decision to leave their country and fight overseas, there has to be a major change in their mental frameworks and belief systems. Drawing on in-depth interviews with three graduates of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools who later became foreign fighters, this chapter examines how masculinity structured their participation in foreign armed conflict. Through this analysis, this chapter analyses the complex overlapping hierarchies of gender that are present and work before, during and after recruits' involvement in these conflicts.
