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Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss exploratory research into the perceptions of British Muslims towards Islamist ideological messaging to contribute to the general debate on “radicalisation”. Design/methodology/approach – Four focus groups were undertaken with a mixture of Bangladeshi and Pakistani British Muslims who were shown a selection of Islamist propaganda media clips, garnered from the internet. Findings – The paper proposess that Islamist communications focus on eliciting change in emotional states, specifically inducing the paratelic-excitement mode, by focusing around a meta-narrative of Muslims as a unitary grouping self-defined as victim to Western aggression. It concludes that British Muslim respondents were unsympathetic to the Islamist ideological messaging contained in the sample of propaganda clips. Originality/value – The paper provides an insight into how British Muslims might respond to Islamist communications, indicating that, while most are not susceptible to inducement of paratelic-excitement, others are likely to be, dependent on which genre of clip is used, the messages contained therein, and who that clip is targeted at.

Available Versions of this Item

• The dark side of political marketing: Islamist propaganda, Reversal Theroy and British Muslims. (deposited 08 Oct 2010 14:04)
  • The dark side of political marketing: Islamist propaganda, Reversal Theory and British Muslims. (deposited 18 Oct 2010 14:45) [Currently Displayed]