Episode 15 - Tamar Mitts. Anti-Muslim hostility and jihadi radicalization

In this episode, I talk to Tamar Mitts who is Assistant Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. We discuss her 2019 article “From Isolation to Radicalization: Anti-Muslim Hostility and Support for ISIS in the West” which was published in the American Political Science Review. The article investigates how anti-muslim hostility fuels jihadi radicalization and stated support for ISIS in 4 Western European countries. It analyzes social media data in order to measure radicalization and locate ISIS supporters. The article demonstrates that ISIS support is higher, where radical right parties receive a higher share of the vote and where more hate crimes against Muslims take place. In contrast the number of asylum seekers is negatively correlated with the level of ISIS support. In addition to this, we discuss the effectiveness of measures of de-radicalization and patterns of radicalization among other groups such as white supremacists and the extreme right. Social media plays an important role for many of the mechanisms discussed throughout the episode. If you want to know more about Tamar and her research, you can follow her on Twitter under “at” TamarMitts or visit her website http://tamarmitts.com/ I hope you enjoy the conversation. Political science recommendation: Mousa, Salma. "Building social cohesion between Christians and Muslims through soccer in Post-ISIS Iraq." Science. Vol. 369, Issue 6505, pp. 866-870. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb3153