Scholarlink

<p>The growing operational involvement of women in contemporary terrorist movements challenges the persistent binary narrative that frames women either as passive victims or fully autonomous perpetrators. Existing scholarship frequently separates structural coercion from individual agency, thereby overlooking the transitional mechanisms that connect victimhood to violence. This conceptual paper advances a novel framework, the Gendered Radicalization Continuum (GRC), which reconceptualizes female radicalization as a staged and relational transformation from structural vulnerability to bounded tactical agency. Using theoretical synthesis and comparative illustrative case analysis of women associated with the Islamic State, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, and emerging patterns in Indonesia, the study integrates feminist security scholarship with contemporary radicalization theory. The model identifies four overlapping phases: (1) structural victimhood, (2) relational radical exposure, (3) ideological internalization, and (4) violent agency; demonstrating how patriarchal subordination, emotional dependency, kinship mediation, and digital grooming operate as interconnected mechanisms facilitating operational engagement. By theorizing radicalization as a continuum rather than a dichotomy, the framework moves beyond reductionist gender binaries and provides a structurally grounded yet agency-sensitive explanation of female participation in terrorism. In doing so, the GRC model addresses a persistent theoretical gap in terrorism studies and offers conceptual leverage for designing gender-responsive prevention, rehabilitation, and counter-extremism strategies.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

From Structural Victimhood to Violent Agency: A Gendered Continuum Model of Female Radicalization in Contemporary Terrorism

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月21日

查看全文
  • Umar Usman Aryadi,
  • Prihandono Wibowo

摘要

The growing operational involvement of women in contemporary terrorist movements challenges the persistent binary narrative that frames women either as passive victims or fully autonomous perpetrators. Existing scholarship frequently separates structural coercion from individual agency, thereby overlooking the transitional mechanisms that connect victimhood to violence. This conceptual paper advances a novel framework, the Gendered Radicalization Continuum (GRC), which reconceptualizes female radicalization as a staged and relational transformation from structural vulnerability to bounded tactical agency. Using theoretical synthesis and comparative illustrative case analysis of women associated with the Islamic State, Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, and emerging patterns in Indonesia, the study integrates feminist security scholarship with contemporary radicalization theory. The model identifies four overlapping phases: (1) structural victimhood, (2) relational radical exposure, (3) ideological internalization, and (4) violent agency; demonstrating how patriarchal subordination, emotional dependency, kinship mediation, and digital grooming operate as interconnected mechanisms facilitating operational engagement. By theorizing radicalization as a continuum rather than a dichotomy, the framework moves beyond reductionist gender binaries and provides a structurally grounded yet agency-sensitive explanation of female participation in terrorism. In doing so, the GRC model addresses a persistent theoretical gap in terrorism studies and offers conceptual leverage for designing gender-responsive prevention, rehabilitation, and counter-extremism strategies.