Becoming a European Homegrown Jihadist

This book advances a multicausal and multilevel understanding of involvement in European homegrown jihadism through an in-depth study of the Dutch Hofstadgroup.

Dr. Bart Schuurman is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University's Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), based in The Hague.

Acknowledgments, Abbreviations 1. Introduction 1.1 The Hofstadgroup - Islamist terrorism in the Netherlands 1.2 Studying involvement in European homegrown jihadism 1.3 Existing literature on the Hofstadgroup 1.3.1 Journalistic accounts of the Hofstadgroup 1.3.2 Primary-sources based academic research on the Hofstadgroup 1.3.3 Secondary-sources based academic research on the Hofstadgroup 1.3.4 Insights by proxy 1.3.5 Research on the Hofstadgroup by government agencies 1.4 Claim to originality 1.5 Research questions 1.6 Research method 1.7 Sources of information 1.7.1 Using police files to study terrorism 1.7.2 Using interviews to study terrorism 1.8 Ethical guidelines 1.9 A note on terminology 1.10 Outline 2. Studying involvement in terrorism 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Issues in terrorism research 2.2.1 An overreliance on secondary sources 2.3 Making sense of involvement in terrorism 2.3.1 Structural-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 2.3.2 Group-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 2.3.3 Individual-level explanations for involvement in terrorism 2.3.4 Interrelated perspectives 2.4 Limitations 2.5 A definitional debate 2.5.1 Terrorism 2.5.2 Radicalism and extremism 2.5.3 Jihad & homegrown jihadism 2.6 Conclusion 3. A history of the Hofstadgroup 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The emergence of homegrown jihadism in the Netherlands 3.3 2002: The Hofstadgroup's initial formation 3.4 2003: Would-be foreign fighters and international connections 3.5 2004: Individualistic plots and the murder of Theo van Gogh 3.5.1 Towards the murder of Theo van Gogh 3.5.2 Violent resistance to arrest 3.6 2005: From 'Hofstad' to 'Piranha' 3.6.1 Spring and summer 2005: renewed signs of terrorist intentions 3.6.2 The second and third potential plots come to light 3.7 An overview of the court cases 3.8 Conclusion 4. The ideological and organizational nature of the Hofstadgroup 4.1 Introduction 4.1.1 Drawing the Hofstadgroup's boundaries 4.2 Homegrown jihadism 4.2.1 The Hofstadgroup's homegrown aspects 4.3 Ideology and terrorism 4.3.1 The Hofstadgroup's ideology 4.4 Defining terrorist organizations 4.4.1 The Hofstadgroup's organizational structure 4.5 Group involvement in terrorism? 4.6 Conclusion 5. Structural-level factors: facilitating and motivating involvement 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 Structural-level factors influencing involvement in terrorism 5.2 Preconditions: providing opportunities for terrorism 5.2.1 The Internet 5.2.2.1 The Internet and the Hofstadgroup 5.2.2 Popular support for terrorism 5.2.2.1 Popular support for the Hofstadgroup 5.2.3 External assistance 5.2.3.1 The Hofstadgroup's external connections 5.2.4 Social or cultural facilitation of violence 5.2.4.1 Social facilitation for violence and the Hofstadgroup 5.2.5 Ineffective counterterrorism 5.2.5.1 Counterterrorism lapses as enablers of the Hofstadgroup 5.2.6 Political opportunity structure 5.2.6.1 Political opportunity structure and the Hofstadgroup 5.3 Preconditions: providing motives for terrorism 5.3.1 (Relative) deprivation and intergroup inequality 5.3.1.1 Relative deprivation and the Hofstadgroup 5.3.2 Political grievances 5.3.2.1 Political grievances among Hofstadgroup participants 5.3.3 A clash of value systems? 5.3.3.1 The Hofstadgroup as a clash of value systems 5.4 Structural-level precipitants: Submission, part 1 5.5 Conclusion