Erasmus University Aug 23rd, 2018 Master Thesis for the MSc in International Public Management and Policy ISLAMIC RADICALIZATION IN EUROPE A case-study of Finland, Denmark and Sweden Leonardo Mosca 488248 First reader: Dr. Michal Onderco Second reader: Prof. Peter Scholten Word count: 23 179 Summary In the past decade, Islamist terrorism has become one of the major threats afflicting European countries and attacks or foiled attempts carried out by jihadist groups are increasingly present in the news. More significantly, evidence shows that most perpetrators are born and raised in European societies, shedding light on the increasing appeal that radical Islam has on young European Muslims. This thesis engages with the existing literature by providing an empirical study on the causes of radicalization. Several scholars have addressed the issue of Islamic radicalization in Europe, however, this topic still lacks empirical evidence at a macro-perspective. Although radicalization remains inevitably dependent on a wide variety of reasons that are mostly related to individual experiences, there are national socio-economic factors that can influence this process. Hence, patterns of Islamic radicalization in European countries present similarities that are worth addressing from an empirical perspective, in order to have a better understanding of this phenomenon and take better measures to prevent it. The purpose of the thesis is to understand what factors are accountable for different levels of radicalization between European countries. The research has been conducted through a co-variational analysis aimed at testing the hypotheses on three countries – Finland, Denmark and Sweden – selected according to a most-similar case-study design. Then, a qualitative analysis of each country’s situation regarding anti-Muslims discrimination and jihadist networks has been carried out. The results show that higher levels of discrimination perceived by Muslims are related to higher levels of radicalization; likewise, the extension of jihadist networks is positively related with Islamic radicalization. Both hypotheses of the study are therefore confirmed by the empirical findings. i LIST OF CONTENTS Summary ............................................................................................................................................................. i LIST OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................ iv INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................................................... 4 1. Definition............................................................................................................................................... 4 2. Causes of radicalization ........................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Micro-level ..................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Meso-level ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Macro-level .................................................................................................................................. 10 3. Final remarks ....................................................................................................................................... 11 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................................... 12 1. French Sociology ................................................................................................................................. 12 2. Social Movement Theories ................................................................................................................. 13 3. Final considerations ............................................................................................................................ 15 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................................. 16 1. Cases selection .................................................................................................................................... 17 2. Data Sources ....................................................................................................................................... 18 3. Dependent variable ............................................................................................................................ 18 4. Independent variables ........................................................................................................................ 20 4.1 Perceived Discrimination among Muslims .................................................................................. 20 4.2 Jihadist Network .......................................................................................................................... 21 5. Control variables ................................................................................................................................. 22 6. External and internal validity ............................................................................................................. 23 7. Limitations ........................................................................................................................................... 23 COUNTRIES’ OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................. 25 1. Finland ................................................................................................................................................. 25 1.1 Socio-Political Context ................................................................................................................. 26 1.2 Islamic Radicalization ................................................................................................................... 28 2. Denmark .............................................................................................................................................. 29 2.1 Socio-Political Context ................................................................................................................. 30 2.2 Islamic Radicalization ................................................................................................................... 31 3. Sweden ................................................................................................................................................ 33 ii 3.1 Socio-Political Context ................................................................................................................. 34 3.2 Islamic Radicalization ................................................................................................................... 37 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 40 1. H1: Perceived Discrimination and Islamic Radicalization .................................................................. 40 1.1 Discrimination in Finland ............................................................................................................. 41 1.2 Discrimination in Denmark .......................................................................................................... 42 1.3 Discrimination in Sweden ............................................................................................................ 43 2. H2: Jihadist Network and Islamic Radicalization ............................................................................... 45 2.1 Jihadist Network in Finland ......................................................................................................... 46 2.2 Jihadist Network in Denmark ...................................................................................................... 46 2.3 Jihadist Network in Sweden ........................................................................................................ 48 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS .............................................................................................................................. 51 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 53 1. Policy implications .............................................................................................................................. 54 2. Space for Further Research ................................................................................................................ 55 BIBLIOGRAPHY