Intellectual radicals challenging the state: the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the west

Abstract

Within the broad panorama of twenty-first-century protest movements, this paper focuses on the activity of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) in the West. Founded in Palestine in 1952, HT stands out today as one of the most controversial groups on the global scene and is active in more than 45 countries. HT’s ‘war of ideas’, based on a strong anti-integration agenda, an open rejection of democracy, personal freedom and Western foreign policy, has fostered a negative image of HT and it is seen as potentially dangerous. This paper explores how HT challenges Western states with its ‘Shock, Demolish, and Rebuild’ strategy, and places particular emphasis on the political and social fields. Through an attentive content analysis, interviews with current HT members and observation conducted during the author’s fieldwork in London and Sydney, this paper contributes to the debate on protest movements, exploring an innovative form of dissent against the state based on the exaltation of the Caliphate.