Why educated youth inclined toward extremism: A case of higher education institutes of Pakistan

Abstract

This article highlights the determinants leading to extremist behavior, i.e. the push and pull factors. The pull factors include: humanitarian causes; radical Islamic ideology; stipulation of a “purpose and mission”; propaganda through media; attraction to martyrdom; and misinterpretation of religious ideas by religious and non-religious extremists. The push factors are local conditions that force people to hold close the violent ideology of radical or extremist Islam. These comprise: local reaction against Americanization/globalization; lack of basic human rights; authoritarian/oppressive political systems; corruption/lack of meritocracy; high youth unemployment; state collapse; and porous borders. To investigate the causes of extremism in higher education institutes, Positivist philosophy (survey method) was adopted. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of educated youth from all over Pakistan, collected via the probability sampling technique. It was revealed that ‘Promotion of Martyrdom’ was highly correlated with extremism, and contributed more than other variables to causing extremism.