Jihadism online

The projects assumption is that the strategies used by Jihadists/Jihadist-Salafists in their online media are up to now not thoroughly understood. Understanding these strategies is indispensable to counter the efforts of the Jihadist tendencies. The projects will analyse these strategies on three levels: theological, visual, rhetoric. Research on the theological dimensions of Jihadi thought is underdeveloped. Since the theological discourses are of great importance for the appeal of Jihadi propaganda analysing all dimensions of Jihadi theological discourses is necessary. The visual aspect of Jihadi online presence is not researched at all despite the overwhelming importance of the video presence of Jihadis. An analysis of this aspect - including other dimensions of Web 2.0 - seems to be of foremost priority. It is well known that the Jihadi subregion of the Web is dominated by Arabic speakers and writers. But the analysis of the rhetorical strategies used to appeal and to convince the audience of the Jihadis is still missing. To overcome these shortcomings in the field of Jihadi studies the project proposes a threefold analysis. The core of the analysis is a thorough understanding of Jihadi theological thoughts. Building on this basis the visual and rhetorical strategies used to transport this thoughts will be researched. Another aspect of the project is the foundation of a genuine humanities approach to Jihadi studies, combining religious, cultural and linguistic methods.

A thorough analysis of online activities of jihadi groups and persons taking account of the specifics of the media of the Internet is still missing. In most cases these online activities are seen as a mere resource of data.Jihadism Online has been able to do pathbreaking research improving this state of play. Three levels of analysis have been worked on: a) Analyzing the religious aspect of jihadi communication, b) Analyzing the specifics of jihadi online communication, c) Analysing jihadi videos. The religious aspect and the role of religious arguments in jihadi communication is often seen as irrelevant or worse erroneously related to the very nature of Islam. The project has been one of the first attempts to demonstrate in a detailed analysis the way religious arguments are reformulated to further the acceptance of violence. The project Jihadism Online has been able to prove the importance of religious argumentation often used in an emblematic form in jihadi communication. The importance of analyzing the religious aspect has been founded in an explicit theoretical approach.Jihadi online communication as such has not been analyzed adequately before. The project Jihadism Online has demonstrated for the first time the way ritualized communication was applied to organize the virtual leadership of jihadi activists. Other aspects of online communication analyzed were the specific aesthetics (colours, graphics etc.) and the way knowledge of classical forms of Arabic literature (esp., poetry) is demonstrated by jihadis to acquire symbolic capital as a way to legitimize the jihadi endeavour.Online videos are of utmost importance in jihadi communication, but surprisingly under researched up to now. The project Jihadism Online developed a new approach analyzing the rhetoric of jihadi videos enabling the researchers to analyze these videos for the first time adequately. A broader analysis of jihadi videos as a means to produce new forms of legitimacy has been added to this analytical approach.Other aspects researched are the strategies of dissemination used in jihadi online communication and the specific character of jihadism as a subculture.