Jeffrey Kaplan

The central focus of this book is a small but vitally important group of movements that constitute a distinct 'fifth wave' of modern terrorism, here called the "New Tribalism". Terrorist Groups and the New Tribalism examines a collection of terrorist or insurgent movements whose similarity in tactics, strategic vision and desire to radically reshape their worlds to conform with a 'Golden Age' dream of perfection which is to be achieved through a genocidal or ethnic cleansing process to make way for the emergence of a new, radically perfected tribal utopia in a single generation. These shared strategic and tactical factors allow them to be examined through a comparative lens as a distinct 'fifth wave' of modern terrorism. Structured around the theoretical framework of David Rapoport's Four Waves thesis, the book examines anomalous movements that began within a distinct wave of international terrorism, but, following a crisis model, has turned inwards toward radical localism, tribalism and xenophobia. The text is divided between theory and in depth case studies of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army and the Sudanese Janjaweed. It concludes with a design for further, field-work based research. This book will be of interest to students of Terrorism and Political Violence, Genocide, Conflict Studies, African politics and Political Science in general. Jeffrey Kaplan is an Associate Professor of Religion and the Director of the Institute for the Study of Religion, Violence and Memory at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. He is the author of 11 books on terrorism and political violence.

Terrorism's Fifth Wave

Terrorist Groups and the New Tribalism

Bron Taylor

Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature

Heléne Lööw

President Obama has declared that the greatest terrorist threat which America faces is attacks by lone wolf terrorists. This volume expands the lone wolf rubric to include autonomous cells: small groups of terrorists who cooperate, but operate independently. The challenge presented by lone wolves and autonomous cells, unlike the threat emanating from established terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, has proven intractable because of the difficulty of gathering intelligence on these actors or effectively countering their actions. Lone wolves operate under the radar, staging deadly attacks such as that at the Boston Marathon, and the 2011 attacks in Norway. This volume includes Theory and Policy Studies, individual case studies and the technological impacts of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons as well as the impact of social media in the process of recruitment and radicalization. This book was originally published as a special issue of Terrorism & Political Violence. .

Lone Wolf and Autonomous Cell Terrorism

In 1972--a period of social upheaval much like today--sociologist Colin Campbell posited a 'cultic milieu': An underground region where true seekers test hidden, forgotten, and forbidden knowledge. Ideas and allegiances within the milieu change as individuals move between loosely organized groups, but the larger milieu persists in opposition to the dominant culture. Jeffrey Kaplan and Helene Loow find Campbell's theory especially useful in coming to grips with the varied oppositional groups of today.

Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization

The Cultic Milieu

Leena Malkki

President Obama has declared that the greatest terrorist threat which America faces is attacks by lone wolf terrorists. This volume expands the lone wolf rubric to include autonomous cells: small groups of terrorists who cooperate, but operate independently. The challenge presented by lone wolves and autonomous cells, unlike the threat emanating from established terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, has proven intractable because of the difficulty of gathering intelligence on these actors or effectively countering their actions. Lone wolves operate under the radar, staging deadly attacks such as that at the Boston Marathon, and the 2011 attacks in Norway. This volume includes Theory and Policy Studies, individual case studies and the technological impacts of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons as well as the impact of social media in the process of recruitment and radicalization. This book was originally published as a special issue of Terrorism & Political Violence.

Jeffrey Kaplan has been one of the most influential scholars of new religious movements, extremism and terrorism. His pioneering use of interpretive fieldwork among radical and violent subcultures opened up new fields of scholarship and vastly increased our understanding of the beliefs and activities of extremists. This collection features many of his seminal contributions to the field alongside several new pieces which place his work within the context of the latest research developments. Combining discussion of the methodological issues alongside a broad array of case studies, this will be essential reading for all students and scholars of extremism, religion and politics and terrorism.

Theory and Case Studies

Radical Religion and Violence

This volume encompasses an array of material exploring the millennium phenomenon and the violent excitement it provokes. Consisting of three core parts, the book combines pertinent documents with insightful commentary and discussion.

Past, Present, and Future

Millennial Violence

This volume takes an objective look at the white supremacy movement since WWII in the United States and Europe, and offers entries describing the people, groups, and themes that make up the radical racist right. Some of the entries have been written by movement activists, others by a variety of scholars. The second half of the volume includes primary documents of resources circulated within the movement, each prefaced by Kaplan (American studies, U. of Helsinki, Finland) and placed in historical and scholarly context. The material is at times offensive, but presented in an academic way. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Jeffrey Kaplan

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