Fifty shades of deprivation: disaggregating types of economic disadvantage in studies of terrorism

Hertog, Steffen ORCID: 0000-0002-6758-9564, Arellano, Adrian, Hegghammer, Thomas and Østby, Gudrun (2024) Fifty shades of deprivation: disaggregating types of economic disadvantage in studies of terrorism. International Studies Review. ISSN 1521-9488

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Abstract

Does economic deprivation fuel terrorist recruitment? A large empirical literature has explored this question, but the findings remain contradictory and inconclusive. We argue that this is due to inconsistencies in the way deprivation has been defined and measured. This article identifies these deficiencies and provides a roadmap towards more precise measurement of deprivation and consequently toward a better understanding of its potential impact on the emergence of terrorism. More specifically, we propose a conceptual framework that distinguishes three different dimensions of relative deprivation: individual vs. collective, objective vs. subjective, and synchronic vs. diachronic. Combining them yields eight different mechanisms that could link economic status to terrorist radicalization. Drawing inspiration from fields like conflict studies, social psychology, and political behaviour, we outline some measurement approaches that could capture the mechanisms in a targeted way. The findings have implications for how researchers should collect data and design studies as well as for how policymakers should interpret the statistical results.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Government
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2024 09:24
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 12:15
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124026

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