Reading done on May 1 2019

"Emotional Motivations of Islamic Activism: Autobiographies and Personal Engagement in Political Action"

  • by Aini Maarit Helena Linjakumpu, University of Lapland, Finland
  • Journal of Religion & Society
    Volume 19 - 2017
  • The Kripke Center
  • ISSSN 1522-5668

This article examines autobiographies of persons who have belonged to different Islamic groups.

It aims to understand the following questions:
- How did one become an Islamic activist?
- How did the actual engagement occur?
- How did the activism evolve?
- How did the disengagement from the activim take place?

In these contexts for example, how are the emotions of anger, frustration, and hope linked to the logic and motivations of the political actions of the Islamic activists that will be considered?

"[...] political activism including Islamically articulated politics, is very much related to personal experience and human emotion" (3).

"In other words, politics and political acions are produced and performed by human beings, and therefore feelings, emotions, and passions cannot be ignored" (3).

"In order to understand the political dimensions of emotions, they should not be regarded merely as individual and somehow "internal" phenomena or as responses to external stimuli. It follows that emotions are not passive reactions to external forces, but emerge as a part of the relationship between an individual and a physical, social, and cultural context" (4).

"Emotions provide motivation and direction to political actions: emotions influence choices, and emotional reactions are a result of choices made" (Mercer 2005,94 as cited in Linjakumpu 2017, 4-5).

"Political behavior and action emerge from different emotions-such as fear and anxiety-which are related to the direction and consequences of change" (Vince:1190 as cited in Linjakumpu 2017, 5).