Othering is central in the rhetoric of both Abu Bakr Naji and Anders Breivik throughout their works fas/irp/crs/RS21745.pdf, retrieved 14 August 2020.
69 KB – 50 Pages
PAGE – 1 ============
1 UPPSALA UNIVERSITY Department of Theology Master Programme in Religion in Peace and Conflict Master thesis, 15 credits Spring, 2020 Supervisor: Emin Poljarevic How does The Management of Savagery 2083 reve al what the two authors perceive as the main external threats to their own groups? J.G. Miles Whitehead
PAGE – 2 ============
2 Abstract Othering is central in the rhetoric of both Abu Bakr Naji and Anders Breivik throughout their works. Both authors use it as a device to drive a psychological wedge between the groups of oup is made up of viole nce oriented takfiris such as Al Qaeda, but Breivik hoped to appeal to other violence oriented far right groups and individuals, disill European life by the far left , feminism and other fo rces. My res earch question will revolve around how a use of othering by the authors can reveal what they regard as the major threat to their group s . Superficially, there seem to be many similarities in how each author uses othering to alienate and dehumanise different groups. H owever, closer inspection reveals entirely different priorities and different methods of othering in play. By examining h ow othering is used throughout the works, it is possible to see which outside groups are perceived to present the biggest threat to the inside groups and the results are perhaps surprising. Given that The Management of Savagery has been seen as the ISIS s trategic manual and the key message throughout the work is try and bring the USA and her allies into a catastrophic war of attrition fr om which the violence oriented takfiris would rise, I had assumed that the would take the brunt o all Muslims who are unaligned with Al Qaeda , plus those Muslims closely aligned with the West or Western ideals are the key target for Naji. Likewise, I had expected most of the vitriol directed at Muslim immigrants to Europe. However, his key concern , as evidenced by the othering used throughout h left leaning groups and political par ties, which he sees as weakening Europe and allowing outsiders to take over. Keywords Othering , others, terrorism, takfiri, far ri ght, Abu Bakr Naji, Anders Breivik, Al Qaeda, ISIS, Cultural Marxists , jihad
PAGE – 3 ============
3 Abstract and Keywords 2 Table of Contents 3 B ackground Introduction 4 Research Question 6 Methodology 6 Theoretical Framework 9 The Authors A s They See Themselves 1 6 Analysis Religious Othering 1 9 Gender and othering 23 2 5 Other i n 34 Conclusion 40 Bibliography 43 Statement of Thesis Length 50
PAGE – 4 ============
4 BACKGROUND Introduction The Management of Savagery: The Most Critical Stage Through Which the Umma Will Pass was written by Abu Bakr Naji and first published online in 2004. It is be lieved that the author may have been using a nom de plume and the work is often attributed to Muhammed Khalil al – Hakaymah, who al so made contributions to the Al Qaeda online magazine Sawt al – Jihad . 1 The aim of The Management of Savagery is to provide a hig h level, long term strategy to violence oriented takfiri groups in order to create a viable and lasting new Islamic Caliphate, mo delled on a violence cent ric interpretation of Shari a . Its premise is based on creating long term nationalist and religious res entment in Muslim countries in order to build an army of fighters to provoke superpowers into military action and eventual defeat . The manual demands the tactics it describes have ins pired Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram as well as other groups across the Muslim world, including in Yemen and Somalia. 2 This work is different to those found in more classical Islamic tradition, immersed as it is in realpolitik and short on religious doctrine, giving it an appeal to a younger generation of violence oriented takfiris and influencing the pragmatic approach o f many current and recent Islamic terror groups. 3 ISIS have used The Management of Savagery to justify their campaign of terror against the p eoples in their own territories: their beheading of enemies, burning to death of captives, kidnapping children and enslaving wome n, these can all be seen as a deliberate strategy set 4 Without a doubt, this has been one of the most inf luential works in inspiring recent violence oriented takfiris movements across the world. I will be comparing Na another recent manifesto which encourages similar levels of political violence and acts of terrorism , but from a culture diff from a diametrically opposed political camp. This work is 2083: A European Declaration of Indep endence , the m anifesto of Norwegian far right terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik. On 1 in Al Arabiya Institute for Studies (July, 2013), http://estudies.alara biya.net/content/agassi – al – nusraassad – experience – jihadi – investment, retrieved 28/03/2020 2 Hossein Asian Politics & Policy , Vol. 9, Issue 2 (Policy Studies Organization, 2017), pp. 340 – 1 3 International Journal of Social Science Studies , Vol. 6, Issue 3 (Redfame, 2018), p. 5 4
PAGE – 5 ============
5 22 nd July 2011, Breivik carried out a terror attack in No rway, killing 77 – mostly children – and camp on the is land of Utøya. He stated that the main reason behind his attack was to raise the profile of his manifesto 2083: A European Decl aration of Independence . Comprising 1,518 pages Islamophobic, antisemitic, anti – leftist , anti – feminist and anti – immigr ation text, Breivik European way of life being erod ed by external factors. (anti – Jihad movem 5 Although it soon emerged that much of the work had been copied directly from far – right websites, his attack brought the se writings out of the murky backwaters of the internet and very much into the public consciousness, where they hav e inspired rig ht – wing groups and even spawned copy – cat attacks such as the one carried out by Brenton Tarrant at the Al – Noor mosque in Christ church, New Zealand, on 15 th March 2019, which killed 51 people. Despite the opposing points of view from these tw o authors, the re are striking similarities in the works in terms of how the authors view their place in the world. Both see themselves at the heart of a centuries old global struggle between good and evil . They view the world as battle ground between their own religion and beliefs against those who threaten what they see as the correct order. Both works are a call to arms to those who do, or wh o could, hold the same beliefs. In order to express and promote their world view s , both writers heavily rely on wh at is known as 6 Since then, a huge amount of academic work ha s been compiled on the subject of othering, usually focusing on the explanation of oppression of various groups th roughout histor y. From anti – black racism in modern day USA, anti s emitic pogroms throughout medieval Europe, anti – communist fear in post WWII A merica to the view s of Tang Dynasty Chinese of the inhabitants of the West River Basin as a subhuman species, other ing has been p revalent to some degree throughout much of the course of human conflict. 7 A more detailed definition will follow, but generally , othering is the process whereby a group/nation/society is broken 5 Anders Behring Breivik, 2083: A European Declaration of Independence (2011), p. 1353 6 Lectures in Paris at the College Philosophique , 1946 1947 , translated by Richard A. Cohen, (Duquesne Univ ersity Press, 1990) 7 Travis D. Boyce, and Winsome M Chunnu, Historicizing Fear, Ignorance, Vilifi cation, and Othering (University of Colorado Press, 2019), pp. 3 – 16
PAGE – 6 ============
6 down into an overly simplistic, and often deliberately ill def It has long been used as a device to galvanise support for a cause by tapping into a form of basic tribalism, bringing people together against a perceived enemy. Research Question I am fascinated by what drives men like Naji and Breivik t o exhort others to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and uproot society in the name of preserving religious or cult u ral tradition and countering outsiders. This paper will examine how the two authors use othering to attempt to influence their r eaders; more specifically, I will be investigating the similarities in othering which occur between the two works. I will ident i fy what types of the divisions of different groups of outsiders and how the authors encourage their readers to viewpoints of Naji and Breivik, I believe that they will utilise similar propaganda based othering rhetoric to try and galvanise their readers I will th en use this information to present the key part of my research: how does a use of othering by the two authors reveal what they see as the majo r threat to their own groups. Methodology As I will be comparing two texts side by side, I have elected to use the q ualitative analysis method of content analysis. Specifically, I will be searching for the similarities and differences between t he two texts with regards to the phenomenon of othering. Throughout this process it will be essential for me to maintain an awa r eness of my assumptions and pre – understanding of the of the subject matter and try to ensure that this is taken into account to avoid influencing the analysis or results of the study. When dealing with ideological literature of any kind, it is essential t o try to detach oneself from the subject matter – reading the works of people who want to see the slaughter of hundreds of thousa nds of people is not pleasant reading and it would be tempting to dismiss both as the grievances of men on the fringes of socie t y who want to make the world a less stable and more violent place. It will be vital for me to look beyond simply the content of the works and examine how each author uses othering and why they have formed th eir world view s .
PAGE – 8 ============
8 McCants translated Manag ement of Savagery in the wake of the September 11 th attacks on the USA, at a time when the emerging threat of Al Qaeda and wider Islamic terrorism wa s only just being understood. His ties with the US military academy at West Point at the time of translatio n mean that it is li kely he would have sought to give as accurate a translation as possible in order to facilitate the full understanding of the Unit Although the spirit of the translation is likely to be as precise as McCants could ge t it, there will sti ll be some phrases which do not give the full meaning as the original text; this is a fact that I must bear in mind and accept wi th no other option open to me. 2083 , although written in English, does present its own challenges. Not lea st among these are t he fact that Breivik has readily admitted that much of the work was not actually penned by himself, but copied and pasted f ro m fa r – right internet chatrooms and webpages. For example, he borrows heavily from the writings of Peder Are Nøs tvold Jensen, who wr ote under the of times throughout his w ork, and also does the same for other authors, so it can be difficult to understand exactly what work is or iginal to Breivik an d what is a copy. In terms of my own study, I believe it will be enough to assume that whatever Breivik has chosen to include in his manifesto, he agreed with at the time of publishing it and they can represent his own thoughts. During the course of this study I may of course need to examine sources other than the two primary sources of 2083 and The Management of Savagery . Broadly, I envisage these being split into three types of sources: academic; media and far right or violence orient ed takfiri sympathis ers. I hope that the authors of academic articles and books will have conducted their own self – analysis with regards to neutralit y, though must still be mindful of their background, beliefs and possible agendas. This becomes more of an issue with the major ity of media articles I will deal with. They will be English language, Western media articles; there would be outcry if these new s outlets presented either of my primary sources or their authors in a positive manner, so this inherent bi as must be taken int o account. Likewise, when gauging the influence of these two works, it may be necessary to examine source material sympathetic to their causes – again, I must try to balance my analysis and bear this in mind. I will immerse myself in th e details of these t exts and the specifics of the sources to discover important patterns, themes, and inter – relationships. I will start this process by an initial
PAGE – 9 ============
9 exploratory reading of the sources then a confirmation of my findings, guided by analytical p rincipals, rather th an specific rules. Theoretical Framework This study will concentrate on the use of othering by influential writers from violence oriented takfiri groups and violence oriented far right groups. Authors from both groups make a use of othering rhetoric to bu h paints all those in p as deviants bent on the The Management of Savagery: The Critical Stage through which the Umma Must Pass 2083: A European Declaration of Independence are two of the most wel l – known and influential examples of these texts from these two groups. Both authors claim that the focus of their works are th e removal of foreign cultural influence and/or military power from their respective regions of the Middle East and Europe; their key enemy groups are seen as external or foreign to their regions. I believe that a study of the othering language used in defi ning other groups in both of these works will reveal whether this is the case, or if groups closer to home are the real major con cern for these writers. This study will examine just how Breivik and Naji use othering. I will be examining what kind of langua ge and imagery they use to define themse lves; what they see as the most important outsider groups; how they instruct their follow ers to behave towards other groups and whether, through a study of their use of othering, it is possible to see where their gre atest fears lie. Angharad Valdivia def ines othering itself as the process whereby individuals or groups attempt to create or hi ghlight divisions in society by marginalising certain groups according to a range of socially constructed categories. 10 Sune Jen sen states that identities are socially constructed in some sense, explaining the use of othering to draw distinctions between pe ople such as differing ethnic minorities. 11 Other differences might be based on religious or political beliefs, gender, wealth, sexuality or nationality, as some exam ples. Joy Johnson et al t to be different from oneself 10 Angharad N. Valdivia, Keywords for Media Studies , edited by Ouellette Laurie and Gray Jonathan, (New York: NYU Press, 2017), pp. 133 – 4. www .jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gk08zz.47 retrieved June 23, 2020. 11 in Quentative Studies , Volume 2, Issue 2 (2011), pp. 63 78. https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v2i2.5510 retrieved 16 August 2020.
PAGE – 10 ============
10 or the mainstream, and it can reinforce and reproduce positions of domination and . 12 This is a very broad definition an d could be applied not just to othering, but racism, xenophobia and political propaganda. Ka ren Wren narrows the definition to less cally of European nationalist groups, the same definition could be extended to many other types of othering. 13 The manner in whi ch othering can be achieved can be overt, such as political manifestos calling for the removal of certain ethnic or religious g roups from a country . 14 It can be much more subtle, such as utilising photographic or film techniques that focus on some character istics of groups or individuals to their detriment. 15 There is also the phenomenon of unconscious bias, whereby an individual or group may behave tow ards a certain group in a negative manner without even realising it. 16 The type of othering I will be examini ng in this study is overt and deliberate; Naji and Breivik use it as a central part of their rhetoric to build shapes their whole world view. nferior, less 17 tical importance fo r this study and the two types of distance should not, in my opinion, have been placed together so readily. I will be interested to see how Naji and Breivik treat the figuratively (culturally) distant groups when compared to the literall y (geographically) distant groups. Natalia cu 18 It is vital 12 Joy L. Johnson et al Health C ommunication , Volume 16, Is sue 2 (2004), p. 253 13 Social and Cultural Geography , V olume 2, Issue 2 (2001), pp. 141 62 14 Markus Rheindorf & Ruth Wodak (2019) sited: a diachronic cross – sectional analysis of the gender and body politics of the extreme right, in Patterns of Prejudice , 53:3, (2019), pp. 302 – 320. DOI: 1 0.1080/0031322X.2019.1595392 retrieved Jun 24 2020. 15 – 4. retrieved J une 23, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1gk08zz.47 16 Design Management Review , 30:3 ( 2019). https://doi – org.ezproxy.its.uu.se/10.1111/drev. 12183 retrieved 24 June 2020. 17 Robert Wuthn ow, American Misfits and the Making of Middle Class Respectability (Princeton, 2017), pp. 258 – 259 18 Natalia Chaban and Martin Holland, Shaping the EU Globa l Strategy: Partners and Perceptions (Springer, 2018), p. 7
PAGE – 11 ============
11 with any study of othering not only to examine the outside groups, but the grou ps from which the definition of othering is emanating. By examining othering from bot perspectives, I hope to see the differences in the use of othering from groups with different agendas and from different backgrounds. This will also a void an approach to the subject from either a just a takfiri or far right centric vie w. Both Naji and Breivik use what Mary Canales has termed ation and exclusion of the other, rather tha n using othering as a method of identifying difference and attempting to then bridge these gaps. 19 cultural groups versus bring 20 This is usually done deliberately where those utilising it focus on differences and highlight them. The alte rnative is inclusionary othering, whereby one acknowledges cultural differences, but learns from them and seeks out the commona lities which are pre sent across many cultures and could help bring societies closer together. Sergei Prozorov has approached the discussion of othering, and specifically Europe – centric othering as a temporal matter in which the European Union is trying no t to become its past self in order to avoid internal conflict. 21 While this is an interesting theory, it cannot be applied to Brei vik, who at times actively calls for a return to the past traditions of bygone European societies (real or idealised). Given th at Naji wants to re they both want a return to the past in some respect, not avoid it entirely. The subject of othering for both Breivik and Naji is rooted in geogr aphical and cultura l issues. the the 22 In their key work on Islamic othering, Ghobadzeh and Akbarzadeh e xplain that it is common for modern Islamists 19 Advances in Nursing Science , Volume 22, Issue 4 (2000), pp. 16 31. 20 Public Administration Review , V olume 75, Issue 4 (2015). https://doi – org.ezproxy.its.uu.se/10.1111/puar.12403, retrieved 18 August 2020. 21 Review of International Studies , Volume 3, 7, Issue 3 (2011), pp. 1273 – 1293. https://www – jstor – org.ezproxy.its.uu.se/stable/23025420, retrieved 16 August 2020. 22 Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, ISIS : Inside the Army of Terror (Regan Arts, 2015), p. 183
69 KB – 50 Pages