ABSTRACT
Islamist radicalisation in Europe has become an issue of top concern in recent years. Strategists, political scientists, but also writers from a series of other academic fields, from anthropology to psychology and economics have discovered it as a promising and fruitful area to search for novelty in explanation and method in description. Security strategies of both European nations and the EU as a whole deal with the terrorist threat, but also more and more with what has been labelled ‘homegrown’ terrorism, radicalisation and recruitment; the radicalisation and recruitment of usually young Muslims or converts, second or third generation Europeans on the verge of waging the jihad, abroad and on the continent. If during the three years after 9/11 Europe could deny or ignore the development of jihadi networks on its territory and their potential to inflict damage and loss of life, the Madrid attacks in 2004, followed by those in London a year later brought the chilling awareness that ‘there is a problem’. Suddenly, from one issue among many, Islamist terrorism and radicalisation soared up the agenda of priorities and, more than that, a sense of urgency emerged to map out and address the threat ‘in our midst’. It is perhaps this sense of urgency that has led to a substantial amount of resources and ideas being invested in slick accounts of the situation, with little data and loose connections to theory, and to equally quickly drafted policy initiatives – broad and ambitious, yet with little focus on the individuals of concern, namely radicals, not mosques and not communities.
