Ties that Bind: The Evolution and Links of Al-Shabab

Agbiboa, Daniel E.

doi:10.1080/00358533.2014.988028

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rising fears are linked to the increasing recruitment of local community members and the successful running of "criminal economies" at the subnational level (ACSRT 2017; Falode 2016). In a few cases, extremist organisations have been reported in the literature to be working at the community level to win local support (Agbiboa 2014;Iyekekpolo 2016). For example, in Nigeria, Boko Haram continually causes devastating havoc as their means of terror evolve from the use of crude weapons to kidnappings and the abduction of children, some of whom are later deployed as suicide bombers.…”

Section: Dilemma In Counterterrorism and The Battle For Hearts And Mi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimaging Subjugated Voice in Africa: A Battle for Hearts and Minds in Terrorism Studies

Oando,

Ilyas

2024

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A rare consensus points to the question of normativity, with an inclination towards the Eurocentric Frankfurt School of Critical Theory, which seems to have been central to Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS). Given the universality of knowledge exerting pressure on scholars to conform with traditional theoretical perspectives, terrorism studies pose inequality from Eurocentricity emerging in “the battle for hearts and minds” research. Some of these studies fall to the allure of connivance with the progressively “authoritarian demands of Western, liberal state and media practice”. Consequently, terrorism research risks being dominated by ethical and logical blindness within established research formations. In Africa, for example, some CTS scholars are subdued to cynically use their Africanity to authenticate the neo-colonial and neo-liberal agenda in terrorism research. This article explores the reimaging of subjugated knowledge through decolonisation of methods in CTS. Rooting for cognitive justice and adequate space for alternative knowledge to imperial science, the article contests the battle for Africa’s hearts and minds as a failed process that needs transformation. Consequently, this work is a contribution to epistemological debate between the global North and South, and the subsequent theoretical contestations in CTS. We argue for hybridity by re-constructing alternative frameworks of knowledge production.

show abstract

Section: Dilemma In Counterterrorism and The Battle For Hearts And Mi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimaging Subjugated Voice in Africa: A Battle for Hearts and Minds in Terrorism Studies

Oando,

Ilyas

2024

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…UDK 327:355.02 (677) DOI 10.7251/ZNUBL2201225C the slogan, African solutions to African problems? Much of what permeates mainstream literature lauds western interference and the involvement of the AU in Somalia's conflict (Segui, 2013;Agbiboa, 2014;Williams, 2014 and. Unfortunately, what extant literature has been largely silent about is that, in order to promote their interest, external actors in Somalia's conflict ignored the realities on the ground and opted instead to usurp the established authority of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) (Cocodia, 2021).…”

Section: Preliminary Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

External Intervention and Stability in Somalia

Cocodia¹

2022

FRS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When external actors intervene in conflict to oust established authority, their interference oftenprolongs the instability and suffering. This is reminiscent of events in South-Central Somalia and the conflict has dragged for over two decades. Could peace have been established without foreign interference in Somalia? Was the African Union’s (AU) peace enforcement intervention really necessary? To have ignored the realities on the ground and opting instead to usurp the established authority of the Islamic Courts Union (at the request of the west) set the stage for the protracted conflict witnessed today in Somalia. This study argues that the lives lost and the financial burden of a prolonged conflict would have been avoided if the AU had adopted a Pan-African/indigenous approach in dealing with Somalia. While the ICU might have been yesterday, peace in Somalia is dependent on local initiatives to build the peace as exemplified by the evolution and success of the ICU and not some contrived foreign/external process. Thirty years of foreign intervention have shown that these will not achieve peace in Somalia. Process tracing is adopted as the method of analysis for this study.

show abstract

“…Moreover, al-Shabaab has arguably been successful in raising funds by making it possible for the terrorist organization to create ties to rich Salafi networks that were willing to aid the jihadist movement financially (Agbiboa, 2014). For instance, a fundraiser was organized on one of the group's online forums in August 2009 with the purpose of collecting money for fighters in various Somali regions, including Bakool, Gedo and Hiran.…”

Section: The Social Media Use Of Al-shabaabmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social media use of African terrorist organizations: a comparative study of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram

Besenyő¹,

Sinkó²

2021

IRD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this qualitative study is to raise awareness of the online presence of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab and Boko Haram by analyzing and comparing their social media activities. The decision that the above-mentioned terrorist organizations shall be selected for inclusion was based on the fact that (I.) they are active in Africa, (II.) they are currently or affiliated with three of the deadliest international terrorist groups in the continent and (III.) they use social media in order to achieve their goals. I conclude that social media is used by all three of the studied terrorist organizations with special attention devoted to mainstream social media platforms, namely Twitter, YouTube and -to a lesser extent -Facebook. Additionally, AQIM, al-Shabaab and Boko Haram seem to have primarily used social media for propaganda purposes, although it was also utilized as a recruitment tool, albeit to varying degrees. Finally, I believe social media can also be used for coordination and funding by the studied terrorist groups; although the small amount of publicly accessible evidence entails qualitative problems, indicating the fact there is room for further research.

show abstract

Ties that Bind: The Evolution and Links of Al-Shabab

Cited by 4 publications

References 19 publications

Reimaging Subjugated Voice in Africa: A Battle for Hearts and Minds in Terrorism Studies

Reimaging Subjugated Voice in Africa: A Battle for Hearts and Minds in Terrorism Studies

External Intervention and Stability in Somalia

The social media use of African terrorist organizations: a comparative study of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About