From non-violent to violent radicalization and vice versa: three case studies from Indonesia

The intricate connection between violent and nonviolent extremism has been a source of debate among radicalization scholars. Some suggest that despite their non-military tactics, Islamists share ideological commonalities with jihadists. Others emphasize the unbridgeable rifts between non-violent and violent Islamists. Rather than simply viewing Islamism and Salafism either as a gateway to or a bulwark against terrorism, we analyze the contingent and variegated movements between violent and non-violent extremism in the context of religio-political polarization in Indonesia. Behavioral and ideological change, we argue, is best seen as a continuum with possible gradations along the spectrum, across which movement is determined by external shocks, reflection, and the role of social networks. Three case studies are discussed which represent three types of crossover: the ideological and tactical shift from Salafism to jihadism; the tactical radicalization of a splinter faction of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI); and the hybrid (partial ideological and tactical) deradicalization of Jemaah Islamiyah.