Understanding and Responding to Violent Extremism A Multidisciplinary Framework

Chapter 1.   Introduction  Chapter 2.  The Security Approach: Violent Extremism as Political Crime  Chapter 3.  The Ideological Approach: When Belief Justifies Violence  Chapter 4.  The Sociological Approach: Joining, Staying, and Leaving Violent Extremist Groups  Chapter 5.  The Socio-Economic Approach: Grievances, Opportunities, and the Turn to Violence  Chapter 6. The Psychological Approach: Formative Experience, Emotion, and the Search for Meaning  Chapter 7. The Gender Approach: Performance and Rejection of Gender Roles  Chapter 8. Adolescence and Youth: When All Frameworks Converge  Chapter 9. Six Lives, Seven Lenses  Chapter 10.  Diagnosis Before Response: An Integrated Framework

Biography

Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh is Professor at Sciences Po Paris and Visiting Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID), Switzerland, and at IE Spain. She is the author or editor of several books, including Human Security: Concepts and Implications (with Anuradha Chenoy, 2007), Rethinking the Liberal Peace (editor, 2011), and A Rock Between Hard Places: Afghanistan in its Regional Security Complexes (with Kristian P. Harpviken, 2016).

‘A comprehensive and innovative introduction into the study of violent extremist radicalization and responses to it through multiple different approaches, complemented by very useful biographical case studies. Highly recommended for everyone to get started with understanding countering terrorism.’

Daniel Koehler, Director, German Institute on Radicalization and Deradicalization Studies (GIRDS)

 

'Understanding and Responding to Violent Extremism: A Multidisciplinary Approach must be placed as a central resource for understanding terrorism from a multidisciplinary perspective.  This book allows readers to compare and contrast analysis across several disciplines and stimulates critical and focused discussion on applying the discussions to policy analysis.  As such, Understanding and Responding to Violent Extremism is a much-needed contribution to the literature.'

Gus Martin, Professor Emeritus, California State University, USA

 

'Violent extremism defies simplistic explanations and solutions. This useful book tackles this complexity by exploring relevant insights on drivers and prevention from a range of analytical approaches, and with a keen eye for limitations and unintended consequences.'

Tore Bjørgo, Center for Research on Extremism (C-REX), University of Oslo, Norway

 

'Who are the people who engage in political violence? Why do they do what they do, what do they experience, and what can we actually do about it? At a time when violent extremism is more complex than ever, and the gap between evidence and policy increasing by the day, Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh offers a critical, timely, and rigorous multi-disciplinary examination of violent extremism that reminds us of the need to fully understand those who participate in it if we are ever to stand a chance of meaningfully preventing it. This truly outstanding textbook should be read by students, professors, and practitioners of counter-terrorism worldwide.'

John Horgan, Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, USA  

 

‘This very well written book is highly successful at presenting a comprehensive, case study based analysis of violent extremism. Students, teachers, and researchers will all benefit from this book.’

Fathali M. Moghaddam,  Department of Government, Georgetown Unviersity, USA

 

‘Original in both method and purpose, the book treats violent extremism not as a category of enemies but as a set of human pathways that can be understood, interrupted, and redirected.’

Scott Atran, Research Professor, Public Policy and Psychology, University of Michigan, and Emeritus Research Director, Anthropology, CNRS, France

 

‘In Understanding and Responding to Violent Extremism, Dr. Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh addresses the challenge of violent extremism with the same interdisciplinary rigor and policy relevance that she brought to the concept of human security twenty years ago. The book's organizing premise is that it is necessary to understand the specific challenges of violent extremism in order to develop effective policies and interventions. She carries that theme across seven analytical frameworks such as ideology, sociology, psychology, gender, youth, and more. The consistent and novel cross-chapter architecture makes this essential reading for students and practitioners alike.’

Randy Borum, Senior Faculty Fellow, Global and National Security Institute, University of South Florida, USA