Assessing equifinality in Islamic extremist pathways using fsQCA

Abstract

This study uses a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to examine the radicalization pathways of Islamic extremists in the United States from 1980 to 2018. This study draws on the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) database to examine the role of individual-, experiential-, contextual-, and familial-level conditions–or push and pull factors- on the radicalization process. More specifically, this study looks at radicalization to violent behaviour. Using fsQCA, this study found that the radicalization pathway for Islamic extremists is extremely difficult to reduce to a simple conditional pattern, and that the combination of conditions for the presence of radical violent behaviour is very similar for the absence of radical violent behaviour. More specifically, being married and holding a deep commitment to radical beliefs were individually and collectively sufficient conditions for explaining the presence and absence of radical violence, as was group membership. Having radical friends, being unemployed, and having a college degree each has less consistency, but predictable relationships with these outcomes, based on their conjoinment with other conditions. Implications and areas for future inquiry are discussed within.