Does Jihadist Terrorism Have Religious Foundations? Jihadist Attacks and Academic Controversies in France (2012-2017)

Abstract

The wave of terrorist attacks in France in recent years has provoked a great deal of debate but many questions remain unanswered. One major controversy concerns the role religion plays in people taking jihadist action. The aim of this article is to resituate how debate on this question has been structured. The first part of the article examines contemporary jihadism as a knowledge object in the French intellectual context. The second part analyses the debate that has emerged among French intellectuals regarding the role of religion in the drift towards jihadism of young French adults and juveniles. The third part presents some critical reflections on these issues.

Notes

[i] This work was carried out in the framework of the Capes-Cofecub (n° Sh 815-37, 2015-2018) project “Passages de frontières et villes sûres: Enjeux historiques et contemporains” (Border Crossings and Safe Towns: Important Historical and Contemporary Issues). This text revisits and goes into more depth on ideas presented at several conferences at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil) (September 8^th 2016), at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF, Brazil) (IV Seminário Internacional INCT-InEAC, September 13^th 2016); see (on-line): http://www.ineac.uff.br/?q=news/iv-semin%C3%A1rio-internacional-do-inctineac-0) and during a conference at the UnB Futuro (Universidade de Brasilia, September 27^th 2016; see (RABELO, 27/09/2016) and at my speech which opened the V^th Seminário internacional “Violência e conflitos sociais: Criminalização, controle e punição”, Laboratório de Estudos da Violência (LEV), Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, November 29^th-December 2^nd 2016. Translated by Richard Dickinson (Inist-CNRS).