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"The Quest for Moral Significance and the Radicalization of Canadian Jihadists"

Lorne L. Dawson, University of Waterloo

17 March, 2016
7:00pm
Dupuis Auditorium

Contrary to the views of many prominent analysts, Dr. Dawson thinks a religious-like quest for moral significance plays a primary role in the motivation of most of the individuals choosing to become either foreign fighters or homegrown terrorists.  In this talk he will argue this point calling on insights from his qualitative research (with Dr. Amaranath Amarasingam) with foreign fighters, their families, friends and associates, and wannabe foreign fighters and other online supporters of jihadist groups.  The talk will highlight the role of religiosity (i.e., not Islam per se) in the social ecology of the process of radicalization leading to violent extremism, while pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of positions debated by many other scholars of terrorism.

Dr. Lorne L. Dawson is a Full Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies and the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo.  His past work on why new religious movements can become violent led to his current research focus on the process of radicalization in homegrown terrorist groups.  He has written three books, edited four books, and published over sixty academic articles and book chapters, and most recently in the co-editor of Religious Radicalization and Securitization in Canada and Beyond (University of Toronto Press, 2014).  In 2012 he helped to found and is the Co-Director of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society () and regularly acts as a consultant for the media, as well as academic and government groups, such as Public Safety Canada, U.S. Homeland Security, British Security Intelligence and the RCMP.