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2021 | Book

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The Strategic Logic of Women in Jihadi Organizations

From Operation to State Building

Author: Hamoon Khelghat-Doost

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This book discusses the role of women in jihadi organizations. It explores the critical puzzle of why, despite the traditional restrictive views of Islamic jurisprudence on women’s social activities, the level of women’s incorporation into some jihadi organizations is growing rapidly both in numbers and roles around the world. The author argues that the increasing incorporation of women and their diversity of roles reflect a strategic logic –jihadi groups integrate women to enhance organizational success. To explain the structural metamorphosis of jihadi organizations and to provide insight into the strategic logic of women in jihadi groups, the book develops a new continuum typology, dividing jihadi groups into operation-based and state-building jihadi organizations. The book uses multiple methods, including empirical fieldwork and the conceptual framework of fragile states to explain the expanding role of women within organizations such as ISIS. Addressing a much-overlooked gap in contemporary studies of women’s association with militant jihadi organizations, this book will be of interest to scholars in the field of gender and international security, think tanks working on the Middle East security affairs, activists, policy-makers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking study or research associated with gender and militant non-state actors.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction
Abstract
The increasing trend of attacks conducted by women affiliated to jihadi organizations and their integration into these groups around the world is puzzling. The conservative interpretations of Islam are clearly discriminative against women. This is manifested in the lower rate of labor force participation for Muslim women (especially in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA) in comparison to other countries and regions around the world. Contrary to this background, there has been an increase in women’s incorporation into jihadi organizations since 2001. The increase is visible in both the numbers and roles women play within these organizations around the world and it has been intensified since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. To explain the puzzle and by introducing a new typology for jihadi organizations based on the conceptual framework of fragile states, this chapter lays the foundation for the main argument of the book; the increasing incorporation of women and their diversity of roles in jihadi organizations reflects a strategic logic – jihadi groups integrate more women to enhance organizational success.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 2. The Portrayal of Women in Jihadi Organizations
Abstract
The dominant approaches in studying women’s association with jihadism generally describe women as victims of the masculine violence committed by jihadi groups. These studies depict a passive image of women in which they cower to the masculine command of such organizations. This approach in turn leaves less room to study a further important group of women who are incorporated into jihadi groups by the organization’s conscious decision. At the same time, the current typologies of jihadi organizations mostly deal with the macro level structure of these groups, including differences in their ideologies and their external supporters. These typologies are antiquated and therefore do not elucidate the reasons for the growing trend in women’s incorporation into these establishments in both numbers and roles. By developing a new typology for jihadi organizations and categorizing them as operation-based and state-building, this chapter provides a platform for comparing different jihadi organizations in terms of their approach toward the incorporation of women. The typology offered in this chapter also makes it possible for researchers to study how the approaches of jihadi organizations toward women evolve with time and for what reasons.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 3. Operation-Based Jihadi Organizations
Abstract
Operation-based jihadi organizations are those commonly known as Islamist terrorist groups. The main political agenda of these groups is to expel Western powers from Muslim lands and to fight secular local governments. The view of these groups on what to do next after seizing power in a country is mostly vague. Since these organizations do not hold identified territories and are involved in guerrilla warfare, their internal structure is based on clandestine cellular networks. In such networks, the organization is divided into several cells and a few members are assigned to each. Countering growing surveillance by official authorities, and prolonging the survivability of the organization are the main reasons behind an operation-based jihadi organization for tactically adopting a clandestine cellular network structure. The strategic logic of women in these organizations is therefore shaped to support this structure. To sustain the covert function and operation of the clandestine structure, women are incorporated as tactical agents.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 4. State-Building Jihadi Organizations
Abstract
Unlike operation-based jihadi organizations, the rise of a new type of jihadi groups such as the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) with a clear vision to establish a state changed our understanding of jihadism. These groups are classified as state-building jihadi organizations in this book. The chaotic socio-political condition of countries such as Syria and Iraq provided the conducive environment for these groups to transfer from being operation-based to state builders. Founding their states included establishing various councils and bureaus with specialized objectives to administer the society they rule. The main objective of state-building jihadi organizations is to embrace a new vision for a society governed by a strict interpretation of Sharia law. Their logic of women is therefore connected to their need for addressing the challenges facing a functioning state including gaining legitimacy, putting the state’s sociopolitical framework into practice (public goods and service provision), and helping to increase their chances of survival (security). Based on this logic, ISIS was successful to convince thousands of women from all round to migrate to its territories in Iraq and Syria.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 5. Women in Operation-Based Jihadi Organizations
Abstract
Women are incorporated into operation-based jihadi organizations in different tactical capacities. Their roles in these groups are divided into two categories: combat and non-combat roles. In terms of combat roles, women have been used by several operation-based jihadi organizations as both suicide bombers and as cover for male fighters. Due to several religious and traditional restrictions, women have a greater chance of passing through male-dominated security checkpoints and penetrating target areas compared to their male counterparts. In terms of non-combat roles, women play a significant role in connecting different cells within the networks of jihadi organizations. Women are utilized by these groups to deliver messages, information, cash, explosives, and weapons among their different cells. Women’s style of dress and the reluctance of security forces to search them have made them ideal messengers for jihadi organizations. The same logic of women’s incorporation as tactical agents can be traced to other roles given to them, including financing, recruiting new members, and raising a new generation of jihadists. These positions are mostly extensions of women’s daily social and private lives.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 6. Women in State-Building Jihadi Organizations: Legitimacy
Abstract
As does any ruling state, jihadi organizations in control of governing territories need a degree of support and legitimacy from the citizens they rule over. In the absence of common means of providing state legitimacy such as voting, state building jihadi organizations seek alternative mechanisms to establish, maintain, expand, and defend their legitimacy. The logic of women’s incorporation into these jihadi organizations is thus geared toward utilizing them throughout this process. To establish legitimacy, state-building jihadi groups encourage women to make hijrah (migration) to their territories. By emphasizing the marginalization of Muslim women in secular Western and Muslim societies, these groups claim to establish “alternative societies” based on gender segregation in which they will be considered equal citizens without having to give up religious practices. Women also contribute to these groups maintaining legitimacy through their biological ability to reproduce. Through structures of marriage and polygamy, state-building jihadi organizations utilize women to ensure the unremitting circle of reproducing new generations of jihadists who will eventually develop, sustain, and defend the organizations. Women are also utilized by these groups to expand their organizations by recruiting more women, to increase the organizations’ level of popular support and legitimacy.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 7. Women in State-Building Jihadi Organizations: Public Goods and Service Provision
Abstract
The proper delivery of public goods and services is a vital requirement for the effective functioning of any state. As state-building jihadi organizations have morphed from being simply militant groups into entities in control of fully functioning states, delivering public goods and services to the population is of central importance. Jihadi groups claimed to fill the gap in public service provision left by the fragile government they replaced. These services were delivered in an inclusive way so both male and female citizens would benefit. As jihadi organizations practice conservative interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence, assisting women with their required public services was challenging. To overcome this challenge, they established gender-segregated parallel institutions. Through these institutions, jihadi organizations were able to expand their provision of public goods and services to the female section of the population. Most state institutions, including schools, universities, hospitals, financial agencies, and other service providers, were gender segregated. A section of these institutions was run by women in order to provide services relevant to women’s needs. As explained, this mechanism ultimately helped state-building jihadi organizations to achieve their objective of governing a functioning state.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 8. Women in State-Building Jihadi Organizations: Security
Abstract
A security gap is one of the first gaps to be filled by state-building jihadi organizations. As the fragile central government loses its effectiveness, state-building jihadi organizations take over the responsibility of restoring order in their territories by using their military. Restoring order and security ensures proper delivery of public goods and services and eventually increases the jihadi organization’s legitimacy in the eyes of the population. Establishing military and policing institutions is also vital for these groups to defend themselves from both internal and external rivals and enemies. To expand their control over the population and to implement their version of sharia law, state-building jihadi organizations incorporated women into the police force, with the objective of extending their control over women, something culturally and religiously impossible for the male dominated structure to achieve. Observing the proper implementation of the proclaimed “pure” version of sharia law by these female officers ensured the maintenance of the “true” Islamic society these organizations envisioned.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Chapter 9. Conclusion
Abstract
Despite the restrictive view of Islamic jurisprudence on women’s social activities, the level of women’s incorporation into jihadi organizations has grown rapidly both in numbers and roles. This increase however, has not been even among all jihadi organizations. While 20% of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) members were women in late 2018, the same rate was far lower for Al-Qaeda. This chapter concludes the main argument of the book on the existence of a strategic logic for women’s incorporation among jihadi organizations which is geared toward organizational success. The chapter also touches upon those jihadi groups in transit to either becoming state-building or operation-based organizations.
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
The Strategic Logic of Women in Jihadi Organizations
Author
Hamoon Khelghat-Doost
Copyright Year
2021
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-59388-9
Print ISBN
978-3-030-59387-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59388-9