Abstract
This article examines the case of the American terrorist Colleen LaRose, known as ‘JihadJane’. By employing social theories and psychological approaches to terrorism, the authors argue that the online radicalization of marginalized individuals like LaRose must be understood through personal histories and existing social and cultural tensions, rather than the seductive power of extremist ideologies. Therefore, in the age of new media, countering the emergence of such individuals requires societies to face challenges akin to preventing other forms of domestic extremist violence, such as school shootings.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.CNN (2010 ) Colorado mom charged in terror case ‘overwhelmed and distraught’ .
CNN.com
, 4 April . Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/03/colorado.mom.terror.charge/index.html (accessed September 2011 ).
2.
Du Gay
P
(2007 ) Organizing Identity: Persons and Organizations ‘After Theory’ . Los Angeles : Sage .
3.
Emerson
S
(2010 ) PA woman charged with recruiting Jihadist killers online . Fox News , 10 March . Available at: http://www.steveemerson.com/7074/pa-woman-charged-with-recruiting-jihadists (accessed September 2011 ).
4.
Hamid
H
(2010 ) ‘Who is Jihad Jane?’ Utusan Online , 21 March . Available at: http://www.opensource.gov (accessed September 2011 ).
5.
Harris
E
(1999 ) Columbine Documents . Available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/columbine_070606.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody (accessed September 2011 ).
6.
Horgan
J
(2005 ) The Psychology of Terrorism . New York : Routledge .
7.
Johnson
C
Crites
A
(2010 ) JihadJane suspect dropped out before high school, married at 16 . The Washington Post , 14 March . Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003722.html (accessed September 2011 ).
8.
Johnson
K
Robbins
L
(2010 ) U.S. woman held in plot is released, family says . The New York Times , 13 March . Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/us/14terror.html?scp=2&sq=terrorism%20lonely%20internet%20colorado&st=cse (accessed September 2011 ).
9.
Juergensmeyer
M
(2000 ) Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise in Religious Violence, rev. edn with new preface . Berkeley : University of California Press .
10.
Levy
ML
(2010 ) The United States vs. Colleen R. LaRose, a/k/a ‘Fatima LaRose,’ a/k/a ‘JihadJane’ . 24 March . Available at: http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/03/09/larose.pdf (accessed September 2011 ).
11.
Lincoln
B
(2003 ) Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11 . Chicago : University of Chicago Press .
12.
Mansson McGinty
A
(2006 ) Becoming Muslim: Western Women’s Conversions to Islam . New York : Palgrave Macmillan .
13.
Mohanty
C
(2003 ) Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity Durham, NC : Duke University Press .
14.
Moynihan
C
(2006 ) Women converts find liberation in Islam ,
Mercator.Net
, 12 January . Available at: http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/women_converts_find_liberation_in_islam/#_edn6 (accessed September 2011 ).
15.
Rimer
S
(1995 ) The second suspect – a special report: With extremism and explosives, a drifting life found a purpose . The New York Times , 28 May . Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/28/us/second-suspect-special-report-with-extremism-explosives-drifting-life-found.html?pagewanted=all (accessed September 2011 ).
16.
Ryan
M
(2003 ) Cleric preached racist views . BBC News Online , 24 February . Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2784591.stm (accessed September 2011 ).
17.
Ryan
J
(2007 ) Countering Militant Islamist Radicalisation on the Internet: A User-Driven Strategy to Recover the Web . Dublin : Institute of European Affairs .
18.
Savage
C
(2010 ) Pennsylvania woman tied to plot on cartoonist . The New York Times , 9 March . Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/us/10pennsylvania.html?ref=colleenrlarose (accessed September 2011 ).
19.
Shorto
R
(2010 ) The integrationist . The New York Times , 24 May . Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/magazine/30Mayor-t.html?pagewanted=3&ref=magazine (accessed September 2011 ).
20.
Stevens
T
Neumann
PR
(2009 ) Countering Online Radicalisation: A Strategy for Action . London : ICSR .
21.
Taylor
M
Quayle
E
(1994 ) Terrorist Lives . London : Brassley’s .
22.
Toppo
G
(2009 ) 10 years later, the real story behind Columbine . USA Today , 14 April . Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm (accessed September 2011 ).
23.
Turner
V
(1995 ) The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure (Foundations of Human Behavior ). Piscataway, NJ : Aldine Transaction .
24.
Urbina
I
(2010 ) Views of ‘JihadJane’ were unknown to neighbors . The New York Times , 10 March . Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/us/11pennsylvania.html?ref=colleenrlarose (accessed September 2011 ).
25.USA Today (2010 ) Second U.S. woman is charged in Jihad Jane case .
USAToday.com
, 2 April . Available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-02-jihad-jane-second_N.htm (accessed September 2011 ).
26.
Yang
G
(2000 ) Liminal effects of social movements: Red Guards and the transformation of identity . Sociological Forum 15 (3 ): 379 –406 .
27.
Young
G
Whitty
MT
(2010 ) In search of the Cartesian self: An examination of disembodiment within 21st-century communication . Theory & Psychology 20 (2 ), 22 April : 209 –229 .
28.
Zakaria
F
(2010 ) Pakistan is ‘epicenter of Islamic terrorism’ .
CNN.com
, 5 May . Available at: http://articles.cnn.com/2010-05-05/opinion/zakaria.pakistan.terror_1_pakistani-government-pakistani-air-force-terror-effort?_s=PM:OPINION (accessed September 2011 ).