UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS OF RADICALIZATION IN MUSLIM SOCIETY: THE TRAVEL FROM SOCIAL IDENTITY TO STIGMATIZATION

Abstract

This research seeks to explore the factors that played an enormous role at international level to push or pull the Muslim society to the path of radicalization. The researcher shines the light that U.S. and Europe in particular led the Muslim society towards in-group formation and this in-group formation brought about radicalization among Islamic world. Availing of the concept of Jihad for the containment of Communism, lack of counter-narrative and silence of west, the policy of global domination; the concept of clash of civilization; efforts to make the world unipolar, and involvement of international media in stigmatizing and manufacturing new narratives against Islam and Muslims are described in this meticulous study. By utilizing the concepts of in-group formation (us vs. them) borrowing from social identity perspective explored by Tajfel and Turner (1979) and social stigma theory of Goffman (1963) this project in specific, endeavors to find the answers of the queries: Why the Muslims drew the line between west and Islamic world as ‘us vs. them’? How Islam and Muslims have been segregated, stigmatized and stereotyped by International community? To scrutinize the phenomenon and to illuminate the enablers of radicalization among Muslim society, this inquiry applies qualitative research design.