Moral, but not principled? Political Framing on the Attribution of Responsibility regarding the Norwegian Female ISIL Affiliates Hanna Karoline Morken Master of Political Science 45 ECTS Credits Faculty of Social Science Department of Political Science University of Oslo Word Count: 29211 Copyright Hanna Karoline Morken 21nd June 2020 2 - This page was intentionally left blank - 3 Abstract Since 2018, and as ISIL have gradually lost its territory in Syria, several Norwegian female ISIL affiliates have requested the Norwegian authorities for assisted repatriations back to Norway. As research has helped unravel their motivations to join ISIL and their role in the civil war, what was once considered passive victims are increasingly perceived as active, determined and politically oriented individuals accountable for their membership in a terrorist organisation. This thesis looks into the political debate that has accompanied this change of perception in Norway, by assessing opinion pieces, parliamentary debates and TV and Radio debate. The aim has been to ask: How do images of ‘Self’ and ‘Other’ attribute responsibility for the fate of Norwegian female ISIL affiliates, thus enabling appropriate course(s) of action? The analysis is firmly grounded in Lene Hansen’s (2006, pp. 5-6) assumption that foreign policy is formed by a depiction of the identity of the ‘self’ versus ‘the other’. This is supplemented by rhetorical political analysis, which enables a theoretically informed analysis of how actors can strategically re-direct characterisations and thereby affect the direction of the debate and the practices it generates. With the assumption that argumentation ‘can resituate prevailing circumstances’ (Martin 2015, pp. 39-40), rhetorical political analysis allows ideational structures, or discourses, space alongside rhetorical devices in seeking to explain how arguments and decisions made. By mapping how the issue is debated over time, the thesis unravels basic disagreement over the how the issue of repatriation should be seen. More specifically, a key bone of contention concerns how moral, humanitarian and arguments concerning the rule of law should be applied to foreign policy. This might reflect an ongoing questioning of Norwegian identity – both who we are as a nation and who should be included in the national self. 4 Acknowledgments This Spring has been strange. Really strange. Words like quarantine, the basic reproduction number, lock-down, isolation, social distancing, pandemic and Zoom have become all too familiar during the covid-19 outbreak. With my mantra; ‘the world may end, but this thesis will be finished in time’! I am so content with how I got here. With less access to the libraries and study friends has meant an extra strain on my supervisors. Thank you so much to my primary supervisor Øivind Bratberg – for taking on this project, and for seeing what I could not see when I started this. Thank you for guiding me along the roads of methodological uncertainty. Also, thank you Sofie Høgestøl as secondary supervisor – your interest and expertise in the field have been in of great value! Thank you Tore Bjørgo for helping me develop the idea. My support system deserves the ultimate THANK YOU: The climbing community – for the adventures… Nadia and Mari – for fun lunch breaks and for the venting of fustrations My father – for being the essential proof-reader ++ Joe and Silje – for stepping in as language consultants My family, countless friends, Pål – Thank you! Any errors or omissions in this thesis lie solely with the author. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 5 Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................... 7 1 – Introduction: .......................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Problem Statement ............................................................................................................................ 9 1.2 Analytical Approach ....................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 A Clarification of terms ................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 Structure of the Thesis ..................................................................................................................... 12 2. Theory and Methodology ..................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Previous Literature on the Presentation of the Female ISIL Affiliates ............................................ 15 2.2 Theoretical Foundation ................................................................................................................... 19 2.3 Foreign policy in Post-structuralism ............................................................................................... 20 2.4 Agency and the Importance of Rhetoric .......................................................................................... 21 2. 5 Framing as a Methodology ............................................................................................................. 23 2.6 Selection of Data Material ............................................................................................................... 25 2.7 The Reading and Coding of the Material ........................................................................................ 28 3 – The Female ISIL Affiliates – motivations, role, legal rights .......................................... 31 3.1 The female affiliates’ motivation and role within ISIL ................................................................... 31 3.2 A potential shift in ISIL’ view of female combatants ..................................................................... 34 3.3 Legal rights and sentence ................................................................................................................ 37 4 – The Political Debate on the Norwegian Female ISIL affiliates ..................................... 40 4.1 - Phase 1 – Summer 2018: The First Request for Repatriation ....................................................... 41 4.2 - Phase 2 – Winter/Spring 2019 – Practical, Moral, and Legal Difficulties .................................... 44 4.3 - Phase 3 - Spring/Autumn 2019: Political Will Demonstrated ....................................................... 49 4.4 - Phase 4 - The First Repatriation of an Adult ISIL affiliate ........................................................... 53 5 – The Self v. Traitors, Terrorists, Mothers ......................................................................... 58 5.1 The Norwegian ‘Self’ ...................................................................................................................... 58 5.2 Traitors ............................................................................................................................................ 65 5.3 Mothers and Parents ........................................................................................................................ 70 5.4 Terrorists ......................................................................................................................................... 76 6 - Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 83 6.1 ‘The Active Choice’ ........................................................................................................................ 84 6.2 ‘Who is holding the moral compass?’ ............................................................................................. 85 6.3 A State Governed by the Rule of Law.. ........................................................................................... 87 6.4 Concluding Remarks ....................................................................................................................... 88 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 90 Legal Sources ........................................................................................................................................ 99 Appendix -1 ......................................................................................................................................... 100 Appendix 2 – Distribution of the Coding ............................................................................................ 101 Appendix 3 – Example of the Coding – Code: FrP Self ...................................................................... 102 Appendix 4 – Chronological List of the Data Material ....................................................................... 108 6 Acronyms FrP The Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet) H The Conservative Party (Høyre) ICRC The International Convention of the Rights of the Child ISIL Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant KrF The Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) MP Member of Parliament NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation