[ecrea] new edited volume - Jihadism online

Based primarily on Arabic original electronic sources of al-Qa'ida and
other jihad groups, the project "Jihadism online", led by Prof. Rüdiger
Lohlker at the University of Vienna, is announcing the release of its
first edited volume "New Approaches to the Analysis of Jihadism". The book
is to be released on 7 December 2011 by the Vienna University Press&  V&R
unipress and features:

Introduction (Rüdiger Lohlker)
Virtual Jihad: A Real Danger (Philipp Holtmann)
Jihadist-Salafist Creed: Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi’s Imperatives of Faith
(Orhan Elmaz)
 From Kalashnikov to Keyboard: Pakistan’s Jihadiscapes and the
Transformation of Lashkar-e Tayba (Thomas K. Gugler)
Virtual Leadership in the Jihadist Net: Rituals and Communicative
Strategies to Guide Online Jihadists (Philipp Holtmann)
Navigating the Forgotten Swamp (Rüdiger Lohlker)
YouTube Jihad: A Rhetorical Analysis of an Islamist Propaganda Video
(Bouchra Oualla)
Jihad via Bluetooth: al-Qa’ida’s Mobile Phone Campaign (Nico Prucha)
Worldwide Online Jihad versus the Gaming Industry Reloaded – Ventures of
the Web (Nico Prucha)

For more information on the project “Jihadism Online” at the University of
Vienna, please visit http://www.univie.ac.at/jihadism


Introduction

Rüdiger Lohlker


This volume is a result of an ongoing research project at the University
of Vienna (Austria). The project “Jihadism online” aims at a
multi-dimensional analysis of the online presence of the transnational
tendency often called Jihadism. Five of the contributors work in the
context of this project, the sixth contributor (Holtmann) is a PhD student
at the University of Vienna and an affiliated member of the project.
Since various aspects of the project will be discussed in the chapters of
this volume we may only mention the specific approach of the project
combining elements of religious and media studies.
A short overview by Philipp Holtmann introduces the field of Jihadist
online campaigns.
Orhan Elmaz demonstrates how a close reading of Jihadi ideo-theological
texts discovers the slight shifts Jihadi authors use when moving from
mainstream Islamic ways of thinking to Jihadist ones. Understanding these
shifts is necessary to understand the strategies Jihadists use to claim
their Islamic legitimacy.
Thomas K. Gugler analyses the development of militant groups in Pakistan,
the state where modern transnational Jihadism was born in the city of
Peshawar. He is focussing on the organization Lashkar-e Tayba and its
diverse manifestations, offline and online. Understanding the specifics of
the South-Asian dimensions of Jihadism is indispensable for a thorough
analysis of the future of Jihadism.
The emergence of specific forms of virtual Jihadist leadership on the web
is analysed by  Philipp Holtmann distinguishing three levels of
leadership: hierarchical, mutual and discursive leadership. The online
communication of Jihadist communication is described as being structured
by a multi-layered interaction of rituals.
Rüdiger Lohlker tries to clarify some basic categories currently used in
the study of Jihadism stressing the importance of a religious studies
approach. Since the religious dimensions of Jihadism are often seen and
misunderstood as mere varieties of ideology this approach must be added to
the toolbox of Jihadism studies.
Videos on popular platforms like YouTube are an important medium for
jihadi propaganda. Bouchra Oualla meticulously analyses one video
following the rhetorical strategies used by the producers of these videos.
This aspect of online communication is still not thoroughly understood so
Oualla lays the foundations for a new approach in Jihadi studies.
Nico Prucha contributes two articles. The first one describes the ways
Jihadis use modern devices for mobile phones to disseminate their worlview
via bluetooth etc., the second one deals with the ways jihadis are
operating online compared to the strategies of the gaming industry. His
two contributions are giving new insights into jihadism online as a media
phenonemon.
Thomas K. Gugler contributed a lot of editorial work to finish this
volume. Special thanks to him. Andrea Nowak did the final editing.

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