Jihadist Islamism: Radicalisation and Index of Radicalisation

14 February 2018. From 18:30 | Workshop | Spanish | IEMed, Barcelona

Terrorism is a form of political action and, as such, can be used by an individual, a group or a state. It is seen as a shortcut that leads faster and more efficiently than other methods to the achievement of political objectives; this is its logic and its raison d’être.

It is a doctrinal approach, the consequences of the acts accomplished are not morally questioned and teleological, the last “goodness” of the objectives justifies the means. Among other factors, the difficulty of achieving a rigorous understanding of terrorism is given by the fact that the term is used politically by all kinds of demagogues as an ideological weapon to minimize / silence / combat ideological-political differences that challenge the status quo. It is therefore difficult to define terrorism and to draw up lists of terrorist groups: the same acts can be judged as heroic acts of liberation or execrable attacks, depending on the ideological perspective from which they are judged and according to the values and the hegemonic ideas of the society in question.

Juan Antón Mellón explains the phases of radicalization until reaching terrorism as such and the different nuances that can be found in each of them.