The Case of Roshonara Choudhry: Implications for Theory on Online Radicalization, ISIS Women, and the Gendered Jihad

Abstract

As dozens of British women and girls travel to join Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, there are increasing concerns over female radicalization online. These fears are heightened by the case of Roshonara Choudhry, the first and only British woman convicted of a violent Islamist attack. The university student in 2010 stabbed her Member of Parliament, after watching YouTube videos of the radical cleric Anwar Al Awlaki. Current radicalization theories portray Choudhry as a "pure lone wolf," a victim of Internet indoctrination, without agency. This article explores how gender factors in her radicalization, to present an alternative to existing theoretical explanations. An engagement with gender reveals its role in Choudhry's radicalization, first, in precluding her from a real-world engagement with Islamism on her terms, pushing her to the Internet; then in increasing her susceptibility to online extremist messages; finally, in fomenting an eventually intolerable dissonance between her online and multiple "real" gendered identities, resulting in violence. The article emphasizes the transgressive nature of this act of female violence in Salafi-Jihadi ideology; also, the importance of this gendered ideology as the foundation of ISIS recruitment online. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the operation of gender in the Jihad's production of violence, and roles for men and women alike.

Religious Orientation of Muslim Girls and Young Women Between Particularism and Universalism

“…Many experts have also discussed the issue of women involving in the Islamic State and published their work. Elizabeth Pearson (2015), for instance, wrote an article entitled "The Case of Roshonara Choudhry: Implications for Theory on Online Radicalization, ISIS Women, and the Gendered Jihad". This paper discussed several aspects of the Choudhry case.…”

“…Zakaria (2015) in his research questioned about this gender role of women in the radical group; Does the group really offer women a non traditional role? Meanwhile, Pearson (2015) mentioned that by looking at the case of Chaudhry, political ideology of jihad is seen as the gender ideology in which there is distinction between the role of men and women. This study argued that the limitation of gender might hinder young girls like Chaudhry to explore Islam and Islamism offline and this takes her to online learning.…”

“…At the same time, the lack of knowledge and understanding of Islam makes them vulnerable to the radical ideology. Furthermore, Pearson (2015) mentioned that gender plays as one of the significant factors in the process of radicalization…”

Online as the New Frontline: Affect, Gender, and ISIS-Take-Down on Social Media

“…The state-centric goals of ISIS, and the aim of creating a functioning polity within a-besieged-territory, have necessitated the recruitment of women, who are desired within this space as state-makers, home-builders, supporters, mothers, propagandists, and wives for fighters. 30 While women from across the world have traveled to Syria and Iraq to live within the Caliphate, 700 from Tunisia for example alone, many more women ISIS supporters are highly active online, a long-seen trend in female Islamist activity. 31 Al Qaeda, for example, used propaganda magazines such as Inspire to promote women as core online supporters.…”

Extreme Overvalued Beliefs: How Violent Extremist Beliefs Become “Normalized”

“…Parents of online recruited terrorists have reported that their children have been "brainwashed" after watching Islamic State cult (ISIS) propaganda videos. They held extreme overvalued beliefs that violent jihadist acts would allow them and their family to go to heaven [18,19].…”