Kin and Peer Contexts and Militant Involvement: a Narrative Analysis

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Kin and Peer Contexts and Militant Involvement: a Narrative Analysis KIN AND PEER CONTEXTS AND MILITANT INVOLVEMENT: A NARRATIVE ANALYSIS By SIMON COPELAND, LLB (Hons), MA A thesis submitted to Lancaster University for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Lancaster University September 2019 The importance of kin and peer networks in facilitating recruitment is taken for granted in existing scholarship on militant groups. Largely focused on plotting the composition of such networks, much of this work leaves a number of assumptions about the influence of these relationships unchallenged and fails to consider their impact over the entirety of individuals’ engagement in militancy. An exclusion of the voices of militants themselves also contributes to a tendency for ‘kin’ to refer only to connections underpinned by genetic ties – or links that whilst objectively measurable are nevertheless only constitutive of a narrow reading of kinship. This thesis takes an alternative approach, viewing kin and peers through the lens of contemporary anthropological understandings of ‘relatedness’, or simply how individuals create similarity between themselves and others, to explore the influence of these relationships in a more nuanced manner. To do so, a new framework for systematically applying narrative analysis to a dataset of militant autobiographies published between 1945 and 2015 is developed and employed to understand how these authors draw upon kin and peers in constructing their narrative storyworlds. In doing so, this thesis argues that the complex means by which militants constitute their kinship and the role of peer networks in shaping their personally held meanings are as significant as the practical openings these relationships provide in terms of understanding individuals’ participation, continued involvement and desistence from violence. At the same time, it also contributes valuable methodological innovations for the study of the self-accounts of those involved in political violence. Declarations This work was part funded by the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (ESRC Award: ES/N009614/1). I declare that the thesis is my own work, and has not been submitted in substantially the same form for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. I confirm that this thesis does not exceed the permitted maximum and that its total length is 79,826 words. Signed: Acknowledgements I owe a great debt of gratitude to many people who have made this thesis possible. To my supervisors Cerwyn Moore, Kim Knott and Matthew Francis. Ces, Kim and Mat, without your support and guidance this project would never have been what it is. I am incredibly grateful for your patience in sharing your expertise with me – I could not have asked for a better supervisory team. To the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, whose financial support made this project feasible. To the great number of people who have generously provided their feedback, time and expertise at different points. To the communities of postgraduate researchers at Lancaster University, the University of Birmingham and part of CREST for making completing the thesis an enjoyable process. A special thanks to Bethan, whose proof-reading and support helped me finish it. To the many, many other people who helped in some way or another along the way. Thank you. This thesis is dedicated to my parents, whose support has been unwavering throughout, and my grandmother who sadly did not get to see it finished. Table of Contents Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... i Figures and Tables ............................................................................................................. ii Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Understanding Kin and Peer Influence Through Applied Narrative Analysis ............................... 2 Militants’ Self-Accounts ............................................................................................................. 3 Research Questions and Structure ............................................................................................. 6 Conclusions and Contributions of the Study ............................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Understanding Kinship ................................................................................. 9 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 9 Evidence of the Importance of Kin and Family .......................................................................... 10 (Re)defining Kinship? ............................................................................................................... 12 Blood and Culture ....................................................................................................................................... 13 Metaphorical Kinship .................................................................................................................................. 14 ‘Made’ Kinship ............................................................................................................................................ 16 ‘Relatedness’ ........................................................................................................................... 17 Defining ‘The Family’ ............................................................................................................... 20 The Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Family ......................................................................................................... 22 The Limitations of Relatedness ................................................................................................................... 24 Family Functions and Family Roles ............................................................................................................. 25 Family Practices ....................................................................................................................... 28 Towards a Workable Model ..................................................................................................... 31 Conclusion: Unanswered Questions in the Study of Kinship and Militancy ............................... 33 Chapter Two: Peers, Influence and Ideological Transmission ............................................ 35 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 35 Defining Peers ......................................................................................................................... 36 The Importance of Peers ............................................................................................................................. 38 The Nature of Influence and Impact ......................................................................................... 39 Conscious Material Impacts ........................................................................................................................ 40 Indirect Impacts .......................................................................................................................................... 42 Ideological Transmission and Militancy ...................................................................................................... 46 How Transmission Takes Place ................................................................................................................... 48 An Alternative Approach to Influence and Impact .................................................................... 51 Narrative Networks ................................................................................................................. 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 57 Chapter Three: Introduction to the dataset ...................................................................... 60 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 60 Autobiography in Research on Militancy .................................................................................. 61 Case Selection .......................................................................................................................... 63 Temporal and Geographical Boundaries ..................................................................................................... 63 Limitations of This Approach .................................................................................................... 65 Case Inclusion .......................................................................................................................... 65 Autobiography ............................................................................................................................................ 66 Additional Considerations ........................................................................................................................... 69 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................ 70
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