The Jihadogenic Urban Structure

Abstract

A jihadogenic urban structure is an urban setting that has been the stage for the departure of high numbers of jihadi agents to Syria in comparison with other districts. The dominant structure is a deprived poor district and in a minority of cases a specific poor or middle-class neighborhood. Chapter 6 explores the locations from which large numbers of jihadists have made the trip to Syria and the conditions that characterize these areas. In Europe, the geographic location of jihadism has been overwhelmingly urban, with two major exceptions. The first is the Islamist community of Artigat in France. The second is the Balkans and rural Bosnia. Regarding those urban dwellings where jihadism prospered, we can study local history, youth networks, and charismatic leaders who played a key role in the radicalization of the settlers. The intrinsic peculiarity of the urban setting seems not to exist in middle-class districts, in contrast to the poor ethnic districts where structural factors led to the radicalization of disaffected youth.