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Paper short abstract:

Studies on violent extremism are riddled with pessimism. Scholarly analyses have portrayed gloomy outcomes on extremism, though overlooks voices and grievances on social and political issues. The study analyses ISIS and Boko Haram extremists’ narratives on social and political reform in Ghana.

Paper long abstract:

Beyond Violent Extremism: A Comparative Analysis of ISIS and Boko Haram Extremists’ Narratives on Social and Political Reform in Ghana

Yunus Dumbe (PhD)

Department of Religious Studies,

College of Humanities and Social Sciences,

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana

Email: ydumbe@gmail.com, ydumbe.cass@knust.edu.gh

ABSTRACT

Contemporary studies on radicalization and violent extremism in West Africa are riddled with panic and pessimism. The scholarly analyses have always portrayed gloomy outcomes on violent extremism suggesting that extremists are adversaries to civilisations, though this overlooks the voices and grievances they articulated on social and political issues. The study offers a comparative analysis of both Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Boko Haram extremists’ narratives on social and political reform in Ghana. While these extremist groups have unleashed violence on innocent people and communities, they have equally articulated their grievances about social and political issues which are worthy for academic reflection on reforms. This study outlines how Ghana has become parts of global Jihadi trend with networks in North Africa and the Middle East and local conditions shaping the extremists’ narratives. Depended on ethnographic methods, internet sources and social media, the study argues that the social and political grievances articulated by extremist organisations provide useful lens to understand their impetus in modern times.

Key words: violent extremism, grievances, ISIS, Boko Haram Ghana, social, political and economic.