COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Understanding Social Identity and Propaganda: How to Deprogram Potential Islamic Extremists in the United States
Creator:
Wu, Sihan
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Graphic Design
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Graphic Design
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"After 9/11 and a series of terror wars, the Islamic extremist recruitment in the US, along with the exponential growth of the on-line extremist messages, has become increasingly Internet based,
converting many an individual born and raised in the US to home-grown Islamic extremists. Research shows that online censorship and removal of the radical contents are ineffective, and and that the current counter-narrative needs to be strategically re-addressed. Under the above framework, the primary purpose of this paper is to determine that visual communication can play a supportive role to curb the online radicalization of the home-grown Islamic extremists by referencing the Islamic doctrines as an effective counter-narrative. This paper is carried out by examining the literature on the different stages of the radicalization process supported by a theoretic radicalization model, as well as the extremist ideology and the propaganda thereof to determine a strategic counter-narrative. The demographic data analyzed in this paper are collected from documented evidence providing the educational background, sex, age, and socio-economical status of the home-grown extremists.
The results of this paper demonstrate that both the social ties and the extremist indoctrination have played pivotal roles in the progress of radicalization -- the social ties are
supportive of the extremist ideology and make the individuals obedient to the radical narrative. In addition, this paper reveals that it might be possible to prevent radicalization at an early stage
by means of visual media that may communicate, argue, and illustrate a moderate notion of
'jihad' which has been abrogated by the extremist propaganda."
converting many an individual born and raised in the US to home-grown Islamic extremists. Research shows that online censorship and removal of the radical contents are ineffective, and and that the current counter-narrative needs to be strategically re-addressed. Under the above framework, the primary purpose of this paper is to determine that visual communication can play a supportive role to curb the online radicalization of the home-grown Islamic extremists by referencing the Islamic doctrines as an effective counter-narrative. This paper is carried out by examining the literature on the different stages of the radicalization process supported by a theoretic radicalization model, as well as the extremist ideology and the propaganda thereof to determine a strategic counter-narrative. The demographic data analyzed in this paper are collected from documented evidence providing the educational background, sex, age, and socio-economical status of the home-grown extremists.
The results of this paper demonstrate that both the social ties and the extremist indoctrination have played pivotal roles in the progress of radicalization -- the social ties are
supportive of the extremist ideology and make the individuals obedient to the radical narrative. In addition, this paper reveals that it might be possible to prevent radicalization at an early stage
by means of visual media that may communicate, argue, and illustrate a moderate notion of
'jihad' which has been abrogated by the extremist propaganda."
Abstract:
Keywords: jihad, cyberjihad, extremist, radicalization, propaganda, group identity, deindividuation, Islam
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2017-11
Format:
PDF : 56 pages