Social Representations of the Jihadist : A Study of an Emerging Identity in Street Culture
Tutenges, Sébastien LU ; Wästerfors, David LU and Hedlund, Anna LU
(2025)
In British Journal of Criminology
65(4).
p.917-933
- Abstract
Over the last two decades, the social identity of the jihadist has become a central part of street culture. Depictions of jihadists can be found in popular music, movies and media reports. Propaganda celebrating or condemning jihadism circulates online, and a significant number of individuals with a background in street crime have flirted with or converted to jihadism. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Oslo, this article analyses how Muslims involved in street life and crime construct and relate to the social identity of the jihadist. The Durkheimian theory of representations is employed to show how the joint construction of this identity shapes the ways in which people on the street make sense of themselves, their enemies, and the... (More)
Over the last two decades, the social identity of the jihadist has become a central part of street culture. Depictions of jihadists can be found in popular music, movies and media reports. Propaganda celebrating or condemning jihadism circulates online, and a significant number of individuals with a background in street crime have flirted with or converted to jihadism. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Oslo, this article analyses how Muslims involved in street life and crime construct and relate to the social identity of the jihadist. The Durkheimian theory of representations is employed to show how the joint construction of this identity shapes the ways in which people on the street make sense of themselves, their enemies, and the actions they take towards jihadi extremism. In conclusion, we argue that the theory of representations, including the concepts of anchoring and objectification, should be incorporated into the analytical toolboxes of cultural criminology and narrative criminology to deepen our understanding of how meaning-making unfolds in cultural context.
(Less)
- author
- Tutenges, Sébastien
LU
; Wästerfors, David
LU
and Hedlund, Anna
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- cultural criminology, Durkheim, jihadism, Moscovici, narrative criminology, social representations, street culture
- in
- British Journal of Criminology
- volume
- 65
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 17 pages
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105014097225
- ISSN
- 0007-0955
- DOI
- 10.1093/bjc/azae096
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- ca3b4955-6a1d-43e9-b94f-cedd61f2bb8a
- date added to LUP
- 2025-11-10 15:35:23
- date last changed
- 2025-11-10 15:36:35
@article{ca3b4955-6a1d-43e9-b94f-cedd61f2bb8a,
abstract = {{<p>Over the last two decades, the social identity of the jihadist has become a central part of street culture. Depictions of jihadists can be found in popular music, movies and media reports. Propaganda celebrating or condemning jihadism circulates online, and a significant number of individuals with a background in street crime have flirted with or converted to jihadism. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Oslo, this article analyses how Muslims involved in street life and crime construct and relate to the social identity of the jihadist. The Durkheimian theory of representations is employed to show how the joint construction of this identity shapes the ways in which people on the street make sense of themselves, their enemies, and the actions they take towards jihadi extremism. In conclusion, we argue that the theory of representations, including the concepts of anchoring and objectification, should be incorporated into the analytical toolboxes of cultural criminology and narrative criminology to deepen our understanding of how meaning-making unfolds in cultural context.</p>}},
author = {{Tutenges, Sébastien and Wästerfors, David and Hedlund, Anna}},
issn = {{0007-0955}},
keywords = {{cultural criminology; Durkheim; jihadism; Moscovici; narrative criminology; social representations; street culture}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{917--933}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{British Journal of Criminology}},
title = {{Social Representations of the Jihadist : A Study of an Emerging Identity in Street Culture}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae096}},
doi = {{10.1093/bjc/azae096}},
volume = {{65}},
year = {{2025}},
}