Deadly Clerics
Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad

Explores multiple pathways of cleric radicalization to explain why some Muslim clerics turn to militant jihadism.

Richard A. Nielsen (Author)

9781108404051, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 9 November 2017

256 pages, 15 b/w illus. 11 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.37 kg

'Why do some Muslim clerics radicalize, abandoning the Islamic mainstream in favor of jihadism? To answer this pressing question, Nielsen compiles a stunning array of new data and deploys the most advanced tools in political methodology. His answer is original and compelling: clerics who experience blocked career ambitions are incentivized to radicalize, with deadly implications for the propagation of Islamic terrorism.' Lisa Blaydes, Stanford University, California

Deadly Clerics explains why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant jihadism while most do not. The book explores multiple pathways of cleric radicalization and shows that the interplay of academic, religious, and political institutions has influenced the rise of modern jihadism through a mechanism of blocked ambition. As long as clerics' academic ambitions remain attainable, they are unlikely to espouse violent jihad. Clerics who are forced out of academia are more likely to turn to jihad for two reasons: jihadist ideas are attractive to those who see the system as turning against them, and preaching a jihad ideology can help these outsider clerics attract supporters and funds. The book draws on evidence from various sources, including large-scale statistical analysis of texts and network data obtained from the Internet, case studies of clerics' lives, and ethnographic participant observations at sites in Cairo, Egypt.

1. Why clerics turn deadly
2. Muslim clerics
3. Paths to preaching jihad
4. Meet the clerics
5. Recognizing jihadists from their writings
6. Networks, careers, and jihadist ideology
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Terrorism, armed struggle [JPWL], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]