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The Role of Charismatic Authority in the Radicalization Towards Violence and Strategic Operation of Terrorist Groups

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The Role of Charismatic Authority in the Radicalization Towards Violence and Strategic Operation of Terrorist Groups View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Waterloo's Institutional Repository Warriors and Prophets: The Role of Charismatic Authority in the Radicalization Towards Violence and Strategic Operation of Terrorist Groups by David C. Hofmann A dissertation presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology and Legal Studies Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2015 © David C. Hofmann 2015 i Author’s Declaration This dissertation consists of material all of which I authored or co-authored: see Statement of Contributions included in the dissertation. This is a true copy of the dissertation, including any final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my dissertation may be made electronically available to the public. David C. Hofmann ii Statement of Contributions Chapter 2 of this dissertation is co-authored with Dr. Lorne L. Dawson, Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo. I contributed approximately 60% of the work on the chapter, and appear as first author. This is in accordance with the inclusion criteria for co-authored material within doctoral dissertations as outlined by the University of Waterloo and the department of Sociology and Legal Studies. iii Abstract In the past four decades, there has been increased multi-disciplinary scholarly interest in the study of charismatic authority and charismatic leadership. However, there is little systematic theoretical and empirical examination of charismatic authority and charismatic leadership in the context of terrorism, despite widespread acknowledgement of the importance of charismatic leaders in the formation, operation, and demise of terrorist groups. This dissertation seeks to re- orient and stimulate future scholarship through an in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis of the relationship between charismatic authority, the radicalization towards violence, and strategic operation of terrorist groups. The introductory chapter grounds the subsequent research by providing working definitions of core concepts, reviewing the current literature on terrorist leadership, discussing methods to improve future analyses of terrorist leadership, before ending with a brief consideration of methods, data, and research questions. Chapter 2 is a critical examination of how the current terrorism literature misuses the social-scientific concepts of charisma and charismatic authority. After examining where and how the literature has fallen short, it provides a synthesis of the available multi-disciplinary social-scientific research on charismatic authority, identifies the three common ways in which the concept of charisma is commonly misused in terrorism studies, and explores several challenges and opportunities for future research. Building upon this foundational analysis, chapter 3 contributes to future research by presenting and justifying a theoretical framework for measuring the presence of charismatic authority in terrorist groups based upon Max Weber’s seminal work on legitimate domination (herrschaft) and on theoretical insights drawn from the study of charismatic leadership in new religious movements. This framework is then applied to an illustrative case study of the relationship between the presence of charismatic authority and the radicalization towards violence within the far-right terrorist group ‘The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord’. Chapter 4 applies the same theoretical framework to a quantitative analysis of the relationship between varying levels of the presence of charismatic authority, choice in operational tactics (e.g., weapon and target choices), and results of attack outcomes (e.g., success rates, lethality) within a sample of thirty international terrorist groups. The concluding chapter provides a synthetic summary of the findings, discusses the contributions of the dissertation to the literature, makes several policy-relevant suggestions, considers study limitations, and outlines avenues for future research. iv Acknowledgements There are many people to thank for their contributions and support during my doctoral studies at the University of Waterloo. The list of people who have played a significant role in helping me complete my doctoral studies is too long to address properly here. For those of you who are not listed below – you know who you are – I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for me over the past four years. I would not have been able to do it without you. First and foremost, I need to express my sincerest gratitude to my Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Lorne Dawson. I was blessed to have an amazing and supportive supervisor who helped shape me into the scholar I am today. I cannot thank him enough for his patience and time, both of which were given to me liberally throughout my stay at the University of Waterloo. I also want to thank my committee members, Dr. Owen Gallupe and Dr. Daniel O’Connor, for their input and support throughout the compilation of my dissertation. I would also like to thank my external examiners, Dr. Laura Huey and Dr. Veronica Kitchen, whose comments and insight helped strengthen my dissertation. Lastly, I want to thank the anonymous reviewers who provided me with helpful comments and criticism during the publication processes for chapters two, three, and four. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to Pauline Dawson and Ilona Kosa, who not only provided me invaluable bureaucratic and administrative support, but were always there to listen to me talk about my academic and non-academic problems and goals. I owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Gary Ackerman for his help in procuring data on The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. His willingness to share hard-to-find primary material and court documents on the CSA allowed me to truly gain a deeper understanding of the group and their motives. I would also like to extend a thank you to Nick Deshpande, Dr. Benjamin Ducol, Dr. Paul Joosse, and Erin Prophet for their helpful comments on various parts of chapters 2, 3, and 4. My research for chapters 3 and 4 was funded by the generous support of the Public Safety Canada research affiliate program for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 academic years. Their support allowed me to concentrate on producing policy-relevant research, while simultaneously progressing through the doctoral program at the University of Waterloo. v Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Gail and Ilan, whose constant love and support allowed me to pursue my dreams. Everything in these pages is a result of your belief in me and your desire to see me succeed and be happy in life. I love you both. Most of all, this one is for you, Michelle. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 - OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 - WORKING DEFINITION OF CHARISMA, CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP, AND CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY ..... 7 1.3 - WORKING DEFINITION OF TERRORISM .................................................................................................. 9 1.4 – WORKING DEFINITION OF RADICALIZATION ....................................................................................... 13 1.5 - HOW IS “LEADERSHIP” CONCEPTUALIZED AND USED IN TERRORISM STUDIES? ................................... 15 1.5.A – SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY .................................................................................................... 17 1.5.B – ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY ....................................................................................................... 19 1.5.C – CHARISMA .............................................................................................................................. 21 1.6 - HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE STUDY OF TERRORIST LEADERSHIP? ....................................................... 23 1.7 - METHODS ........................................................................................................................................... 30 1.8 - THE NATURE OF THE DATA USED ........................................................................................................ 30 1.9 - THESIS STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ................................................................................ 31 1.10 - CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 32 CHAPTER 2: THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY IN THE STUDY OF TERRORIST GROUPS AND RADICALIZATION ...................................................... 34 2.1 - INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 34 2.2 - WHAT IS CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY? ................................................................................................. 37 2.2.A - CHARISMA AND RELIGION .......................................................................................................
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