Radical Islam Rising ─ Muslim Extremism In The West

Why would someone from Southern California or Northern London turn to Islamic radicalism? Journalist Wiktorowicz goes beyond theory in his careful analysis of the Muhajiroun movement in the UK, which appeals to disaffected young local Muslims to explain why certain individuals are attracted to high-risk and high-cost activism. He has found that such groups take advantage of religious seeking or some other "cognitive opening" caused by discrimination or socioeconomic crisis, apply a "scholastic" bent to their ideas to make them legitimate, and nurture or "culture" the individual into accepting what would otherwise be unacceptable within the peaceful tenets of Islam. Wiktorowicz traces the history of the movement and its practices, its ability to find or create cognitive openings and exploit them, its interpretations of sacred authority, and its creation of a culture which appears right and proper to those inside but decidedly evil to those outside. Annotation c2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Quintan Wiktorowicz, a well-known expert on Islamic movements, has taught at Dartmouth College, Rhodes College, and Shippensburg University. He has conducted research on both moderate and radical Islamic movements in Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, and Europe. He is the author of The Management of Islamic Activism: Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and State Power in Jordan, Global Jihad: Understanding September 11 and the editor of Islamic Activism: A Social Movement Theory Approach.