The transformative charisma phenomenon in Islamist radicalism and militancy : a micro- and macro- level analysis.

Abstract

Despite broad recognition in the scholarly field that charismatic leaders play an important role in the emergence and evolution of Islamist radicalism and militancy, few significant studies exist that are devoted exclusively to examining the charismatic leadership phenomenon in Islamist radicalism and militancy. This paradox that defines the pre-existing body of scholarship reflects a tentativeness to use charismatic leadership theory as an analytical paradigm through which to understand the complex and multifarious nuances that drive Islamist radicalism and militancy. This study seeks to address this paradox in the field and demonstrate the utility of charismatic leadership theory as a powerful analytical paradigm via a micro-and macro-level analysis of the charismatic leadership phenomenon in Islamist radicalism and militancy. This thesis argues that, at a micro-level, charismatic leaders act as vehicles for the evolutionary development of modem Islamist radicalism and militancy by strategically constructing charismatic images and narratives that simultaneously exacerbate and provide a solution to their followers' perceptions of crisis. At a macro-level, this thesis argues that the Transformative Charisma Phenomenon in Islamist radicalism and militancy (TCPIRM) has produced complex chains of charismatic leaders due to individual leaders emerging, at least in part, by building upon the charismatic •capital of preceding charismatic leaders. This thesis develops a suite of theoretical paradigms, the centrepiece of which is an innovatively multidisciplinary theory of charismatic leadership that introduces the concept of transformative routinisation to the field, that provides the conceptual frameworks for four case studies featuring Hassan al-Banna (Colonial Period), Sayyid Qutb (post-Colonial Period), Abdullah Azzam (Modem Period I) and Osama Bin Laden (Modem Period II). At a micro-level, the case studies draw on an exhaustive body of primary sources to examine the complex interplay of factors that shaped the charismatic appeal of each charismatic leader. At a macro-level, this thesis identifies and analyses a chain of charismatic leaders stretching from the Islamist modernist Jamal aI-Afghani of the late-1800s to Osama Bin Laden and beyond. This thesis thus facilitates a broader examination of the complex nuances that drive the rise and evolution of radical and militant Islamism; bringing into acute focus the critical role of perceptions of crisis and cognitive identity paradigms in the emergence of radical and militant groups.