David Jacobson

Religiosity and Rebellion in Nigeria: Considering Boko Haram in the Radical Tradition

Testing social movement theory positing that radical organizations are ideologically driven at their core, but are supported by civilians who are driven by social factors, this research interrogates the disparity between radical group ideology and supporter belief set in the context of present-day Nigeria. Content analysis of randomly selected Boko Haram publications establishes the high, and increasing, levels of religiosity exhibited by the violent social movement itself. In contrast, a large-N survey of Nigerians conducted in 2012 and 2013 shows that high levels of religiosity do not significantly predict willingness to justify violence, commitment to non-state violent actors, or positive attitude toward Boko Haram among Nigerians as a whole, but rather the opposite. Given these findings, Boko Haram may be better understood within the tradition of radical extremist movements across the ideological spectrum, even while it frames its struggle as that of a distinctly religious movement.

The prosperous hardliner: Affluence, fundamentalism, and radicalization in Western European Muslim communities

Current literature finds that radicalization is correlated with both the holding of fundamentalist religious beliefs and low socio-economic status. The authors interrogate these proposed relationships through a survey we commissioned of 1,200 Muslims living in Western Europe. They analyze, inter alia, Islamic religious fundamentalism, and explore its relationship to self-reported affluence. Controlling for demographic variables, they find that, on average, respondents from more prosperous families are more likely to practice Islam in a way closely associated with fundamentalism – they are more conservative regarding gender roles, seek the universal application of Islamic law, and embrace attitudes associated with a more politicized Islam. This relationship is strengthened among respondents who are unattached to the labor market due to unemployment. Additionally, respondents espousing this belief set are more supportive of the use of violence to ‘defend their faith’.

Agency on a global scale: Rules, rights, and the European Union

Part 1: Framework 1. Globalization and the Citizenship Gap Alison Brysk and Gershon Shafir 2. Citizenship and Human Rights In An Era of Globalization Gershon Shafir Part 2: Producing Citizenship 3. Constituting Political Community Ronnie Lipschutz 4. Latitudes of Citizenship Aihwa Ong Part 3: Constructing Rights 5. Agency on a Global Scale: Rules, rights and the European Union David Jacobson and Galya Benarieh Ruffer 6. International Law and Citizenship: Mandated membership, diluted identity Peter Spiro Part 4: Globalizing the Citizenship Gap 7. Deflated Citizenship: Labor rights in a global era Gay W. Seidman 8. The Globalization of Social Reproduction: Women migrants Kristen Hill Maher 9. Children Across Borders: Patrimony, property or persons? Alison Brysk Part 5: Reconstructing Citizenship 10. Citizenship and Globalism: Markets, empire and terrorism Richard Falk 11. The Repositioning of Citizenship Saskia Sassen 12. Globalizing Citizenship? Alison Brysk and Gershon Shafir

Citizenship redux: Why citizenship remains pivotal in a globalizing world

Citizenship reemerged as a topic of major academic and policy interest from the 1990s, and as extensive and passionate as that debate has been, Saskia Sassens commentary illustrates why we have not fully unlocked its importance. Citizenship, in Sassens thought-provoking argument, articulates the relationship of the individual and the state, and the national and the international. The articulation here is, as I read it, both in the meaning of, first, “makes sense of,” conceptualizes and gives voice to a set of relationships, and second, facilitates the facile movement between different parts. In this latter sense, citizenship is the “joint” or nexus that articulates between social and political parts, much in the way (metaphorically speaking) our bodies have articulating joints.

Citizenship and Violence: The Past and Future of Civility

In the debates over citizenship and civil society and its different models the main division has been primarily characterized by give-and-take between liberals and communitarians over what makes for “the good society.” Here I examine a key, additional element that has been largely forgotten in the contemporary discussion on citizenship in Europe or North America—namely, keeping civil violence at bay. What are the limits in the shaping of civil society, before we tip over into growing levels of violence? After examining the liberal and communitarian arguments for what generates a civic (non-violent) order, and their respective limits, I offer an alternative sociological explanation, inspired by Subrata Mitra’s work.

Surveying the Landscape of Integration: Muslim Immigrants in the United Kingdom and France

This research explores how the beliefs of Muslim immigrants living in France compare to those of their counterparts in the United Kingdom. We conducted a survey of 400 Muslims in each nation and noted significant differences between them. We found that British Muslims felt less positively about the West and its influence in the Muslim world than did French Muslims. British Muslims were more likely to prioritize loyalty to the Ummah and to perceive hostility toward Islam. The findings are suggestive of a disparity in the immigrant experience in the two nations, as well as in the effectiveness of their government integration strategies.