Overview

Jihadist rebel groups that take control over a territory, claim authority over its population, and implement radical religious laws have become a rising security issue over the last decade. Generally brutal and authoritarian, the best-known manifestation of this phenomenon is the Islamic State (IS). While the IS has been decimated in the last few years, most analysts agree that the problem of jihadist violence is far from over, and that the IS may very well re-configure itself in a not so distant future. Moreover, beyond Iraq and Syria, the security threat posed by violent jihadism remains an acute issue. Yet no one has hitherto systematically explored the potential for civil resistance against jihadist armed groups. In Confronting the Caliphate, Isak Svensson and co-authors Daniel Finnbogason, Dino Krause, Luís Martínez Lorenzo, and Nanar Hawach focus on a core set of questions: What can civilians, who oppose the jihadists' attempt to rule them, do to manifest their dissent? To what extent are civilians engaging in acts of resistance against jihadist rebel rule and what does such resistance look like? Does it matter, and can it in any way influence the trajectories of jihadist proto-states? New military and political realities in Iraq and Syria have opened up the possibility to generate new knowledge in areas where the IS has been pushed back. The authors draw from a novel survey on civil resistance against the IS in Mosul after the IS lost control of the city. This survey--the first of its kind--concentrates on the extent and character of resistance behavior against the IS. The authors also utilize contemporary Arab-language social media blogs and news websites in order to document protests against jihadists in Syria, and they also draw on interviews with activists and civilian in Syria and Lebanon who have lived under rule of jihadist groups. Importantly, they show that the international character of jihadist groups are often perceived as alien to local customs, thereby triggering resistance. Given the events of the recent past and the potential resurgence of such groups, this book is a valuable intervention that not only shows us how jihadists rule, but provides the best explanation yet of how ordinary people resist jihadist totalitarianism.

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9780197605608

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Reviews

Confronting the Caliphate is a rich, creative and thoughtful exploration of the conditions under which some civilians pushed back against jihadist rule. A combination of methods and examination of multiple cases allows the authors to make a significant contribution to an understudied dimension of jihadist insurgencies. * Marc Lynch, The George Washington University * Civil resistance is possible even in the most rigid and cruel regimes, as this eye-opening study reveals. In both direct and subtle ways, rebellious subjects have engaged in protests, non-cooperation, and other means of defying the Islamic State. Utilizing sophisticated data sets, this able team of scholars has mapped the kind of participants and conditions in which civil resistance is possible, and gauged the possibilities for its success. This book is a landmark in peace and conflict studies and deserves a wide reading by scholars, policy-makers, and anyone concerned about how citizens can respond to oppressive regimes. * Mark Juergensmeyer, author of When God Stops Fighting: How Religious Violence Ends * Svensson and coauthors have made an important and deeply researched contribution to our understanding of civilian agency under conditions of rebel governance with Confronting the Caliphate, filling an important gap in a literature that has focused more on the determinants of support and collaboration with non-state armed groups and less on the equally important outcome of resistance. * Mara Redlich Revkin, Associate Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law * This critically important book examines the importance of civilian agency and non-violent resistance when militant groups control territory. As violent Islamist groups have sought to control territory and establish proto states or Caliphates, Svensson and his coauthors examine what role civilians play? Contrary to expectations, non-violent resistance has succeeded against all odds and in the most coercive environments. Using original empirically grounded analyses and original interviews, the book probes the 'political jiu-jitsu' of civil society and resistance confronting Jihadis in Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Syria, Yemen. It is a must read for students and scholars of conflict resolution and counter terrorism. * Mia Bloom, New America and Georgia State University *

"This book is a must-read. * A. B. Al-Deen, CHOICE * Confronting the Caliphate is a rich, creative and thoughtful exploration of the conditions under which some civilians pushed back against jihadist rule. A combination of methods and examination of multiple cases allows the authors to make a significant contribution to an understudied dimension of jihadist insurgencies. * Marc Lynch, The George Washington University * Civil resistance is possible even in the most rigid and cruel regimes, as this eye-opening study reveals. In both direct and subtle ways, rebellious subjects have engaged in protests, non-cooperation, and other means of defying the Islamic State. Utilizing sophisticated data sets, this able team of scholars has mapped the kind of participants and conditions in which civil resistance is possible, and gauged the possibilities for its success. This book is a landmark in peace and conflict studies and deserves a wide reading by scholars, policy-makers, and anyone concerned about how citizens can respond to oppressive regimes. * Mark Juergensmeyer, author of When God Stops Fighting: How Religious Violence Ends * Svensson and coauthors have made an important and deeply researched contribution to our understanding of civilian agency under conditions of rebel governance with ""Confronting the Caliphate,"" filling an important gap in a literature that has focused more on the determinants of support and collaboration with non-state armed groups and less on the equally important outcome of resistance. * Mara Redlich Revkin, Associate Professor of Law, Duke University School of Law * This critically important book examines the importance of civilian agency and non-violent resistance when militant groups control territory. As violent Islamist groups have sought to control territory and establish proto states or Caliphates, Svensson and his coauthors examine what role civilians play? Contrary to expectations, non-violent resistance has succeeded against all odds and in the most coercive environments. Using original empirically grounded analyses and original interviews, the book probes the 'political jiu-jitsu' of civil society and resistance confronting Jihadis in Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Syria, Yemen. It is a must read for students and scholars of conflict resolution and counter terrorism. * Mia Bloom, New America and Georgia State University *"

Author Information

Isak Svensson is a Professor of Peace and Conflict Research at the Uppsala University, Sweden. Daniel Finnbogason has been a research assistant at Uppsala University, and is Desk Officer at the Dialogue and Peace Mediation section at the Folke Bernadotte Academy. Dino Krause has been a research assistant at Uppsala University, and is a PhD Candidate at the Danish Institute for International Studies and the University of Aarhus. Luís Martínez Lorenzo has been a research assistant at Uppsala University, and is a research assistant at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals. Nanar Hawach has been a research assistant at Uppsala University, and is a PhD Candidate/Université libre de Bruxelles.

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