The radical milieu : conceptualizing the supportive social environment of terrorist groups
License
Cadmus Permanent Link
Full-text via DOI
ISBN
ISSN
1057-610X; 1521-0731
Issue Date
Type of Publication
Keyword(s)
LC Subject Heading
Other Topic(s)
EUI Research Cluster(s)
Initial version
Published version
Succeeding version
Preceding version
Published version part
Earlier different version
Initial format
Author(s)
Citation
Studies in conflict and terrorism, 2014, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 979-998
Cite
MALTHANER, Stefan, WALDMANN, Peter, The radical milieu : conceptualizing the supportive social environment of terrorist groups, Studies in conflict and terrorism, 2014, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 979-998 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/39519
Abstract
Terrorist groups are not completely isolated, socially “free-floating” entities, but emerge from and operate within a specific, immediate social environment—what we call the radical milieu—which shares their perspective and objectives, approves of certain forms of violence, and (at least to a certain extent) supports the violent group morally and logistically. In this article we introduce an approach to conceptualize and analyze this formative and supportive social environment of clandestine groups, addressing the questions of how the radical milieu emerges, what forms it takes, and what role it plays in shaping the development of violent groups. Our focus, thereby, rests on relationship-patterns between violent groups and radical milieus as well as on processes of interaction between radical milieus and their broader political and societal environment, which may entail dynamics of support and control but also isolation and radicalization.