Full metadata
Title
Cultist terror groups: Dividing out a subset of religious terror.
Description
In this paper, I define a religious-political phenomenon called cultist terror groups. A cultist terror (ct) group is a nationalist insurgent organization which employs extreme, ritualized violence, and establishes a cultist doctrine, commonly borrowing elements from established religions. IS, or the Islamic State, is the latest example of a cultist terror group. This paper examines and contextualizes IS by analyzing death cults throughout modern history, and contrasts these case studies with violent, religious, political groups that do not meet the heuristic characteristics of a cultist terror group. Cultist terror groups are so named to drive home the idea that these groups belong to a subset of the broader, religious terror (rt) group category. The paper aims to discern the key components of cultist terror groups that distinguish these groups from other violent, religious groups with political goals (a political theology). These include identity and strategy components. Specifically, it presents a concise set of hypotheses about how cultist terror groups create in-group solidarity (e.g., through synchronous activities), recruit members, prevent defection, select targets, and how these aspects differentiate cultist terror groups from other violent religious organizations with political theologies.
Date Created
2016-12
Contributors
- Briggs, Noah Blakemore (Author)
- Siroky, David S (Thesis director)
- Bustikova, Lenka (Committee member)
- School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
- School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
- Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor)
- Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
37 pages
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Series
Academic Year 2016-2017
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.42810
Level of coding
minimal
Cataloging Standards
System Created
- 2017-10-30 02:50:58
System Modified
- 2021-08-11 04:09:57
- 3 years 1 month ago
Additional Formats