Pyramidal Socialization

Abstract

This chapter highlights how French Salafists try to promote a type of relationship with the rest of the society that is built upon their feeling that they are the elect. This is not so much a cult that Salafists try to identify with as a sort of religious aristocracy in which they consider themselves superior to other Muslims and, of course, non-Muslims. By embracing a certain conception of politics, as well as by appealing to certain economic and cultural customs, habits, and norms, Salafists have been building a countersociety. It may seem that they therefore wish to split from the rest of the society, but they are actually promoting another type of socialization, one built upon the desire to appear as a sort of cast.