Discourse analysis for action against jihadist radicalization

Overview & Synopsis

Faced with the jihadist attacks that have struck the West in recent years, researchers and professionals have rallied to understand the dynamics that can lead an individual to adhere to the ideology promoted by Daesh. If several disciplines such as psychology 1 , sociology 2 and computer science 3 have found their legitimacy in action-research programs on the phenomenon of jihadist radicalization, language sciences seem to encounter some difficulties. Therefore this study is conducted in a context where the role of language has been recognized but not sufficiently examined. Our objective here is to show how the analysis of jihadist discourse can contribute to understanding the phenomenon of radicalization and to formulating a strategy for dealing with it. This is not a research in language sciences, and more specifically in discourse analysis, which would take jihadist discourse as a simple case study. On the contrary, we want to bring the knowledge and methodologies of language sciences to the study of a phenomenon of global interest that is challenging all disciplinary boundaries. This discursive characterization leads to criteria for identifying radicalization on the web and to recommendations for messages that would enable us to counter jihadist radicalization.