Description
Most of the scholarly literature on ‘Radicalization and extremism continues to remain ontologically positioned within positivism. This paper diverges from the mainstream intellectual trend by exploring the discursive construction of ‘Radicalization’ in the literature on International Relations. The paper follows three intertwined trajectories. Firstly, it explores the discursive practices through which ‘radicalization’ has become linked with extremism and terrorism. It further explains the processes through which the discourse on ‘radicalization’ has become naturalized while alternative explanations have concomitantly been marginalized. The scholarly work in International Relations often understands radicalization as a process of adopting more extreme and violent ideals and continues to increasingly become associated with Islam in the discourse. Following this, secondly, this paper intends to explore the knowledge/power nexus through the theoretical lens of social constructivism and locate the representational practices that have played a significant role in linking ‘Radicalization’ with Islam. Considering how discursive and representational practices have constructed a ‘radical identity’ of Muslims, the third objective of this paper is to, explore how the circulation of truth on ‘Islam’, ‘radicalization’ and ‘extremism’ and the tenuous link between them, established through discourse, has come to represent and construct a ‘Muslim’ identity. The main objective of this research is to explore the construction of the truth on ‘Radicalization’ and the representational practices that have fixed a particular meaning to it. The paper uses International Relations journal articles as conduits of ‘truths’, through which knowledge is produced and ‘truths’ are constructed.
