How Do Individuals Join the Al-Shabaab? An Ethnographic Insight into Recruitment Models for the Al-Shabaab Network in Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT Al-Shabaab employs diverse strategies to recruit and radicalize youth to the network. The Social Movement Theory is used to assess recruitment models for terrorist networks such as the Al-Shabaab. Five models are explored to understand the evolving recruitment trends for the Al-Shabaab network from 2007 to 2019: the net, funnel, infiltrator, intimidation, and for-profit motives. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork of selected 47 cases of individuals associated with the Al-Shabaab, the study recognizes the role of kinship networks, social relationships between the recruiter and the recruited, group dynamics, and recruitment spaces as crucial in Al-Shabaab recruitment. The study offers insights into the evolving recruitment strategies of terrorist organizations navigating counter-terrorism responses in the aftermath of terror attacks at the Westgate Mall and the Garissa University attacks in Kenya.