CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017
| Author | Latif, Danish Ali |
|---|---|
| Title | What do they say? Mapping the propaganda discourse of Islamic State publications: An analysis of Dabiq and Rumiyah |
| Summary | The rise of the Islamic State (IS) has once again catapulted terrorism as a threat to global peace. The advancements in technologies of internet and social media have further pronounced the intensity of this threat. Rouge organizations such as the Islamic State have frequently utilized innovations in internet and social media to promote their agendas of recruitment, securing funding and spreading propaganda. For the first time in the history of the Islamic State, the organization has undergone a considerable loss in territory. This research seeks to quantitatively and qualitatively investigate the shifts in the propaganda discourse of the Islamic State’s magazines; Rumiyah and Dabiq, during the period of territorial loss. To this end, a quantitative analysis of Rumiyah’s content is conducted, categorising it into value-, dichotomy- and crisis-reinforcing propaganda narratives, the results are then compared to the results of Dabiq, which are taken from secondary literature. To further ground and understand the implications of the findings a critical discourse analysis is carried out on the content of the two publications. The study uncovers that with the loss of territory, a shift in the propaganda discourse is experienced in favour of a higher emphasis upon value-reinforcing content, and a lower emphasis upon dichotomy-reinforcing content. There are no changes observed in crisis-reinforcing content, however a new category of ‘operational tactics’ occupies indicative space in Rumiyah. From these findings, the study infers that due to a loss in territory, the Islamic State attempts to consolidate their inner Sunni Muslim identity by emphasising upon value-reinforcing content, and encouraging simple, yet impactful terror activities in foreign lands. This study contributes to the literature on Islamic State, specifically pertaining to Rumiyah, upon which no literature exists. The study also helps to further comprehend the Islamic State’s propaganda machinery in different phases of its existence. |
| Supervisor | Zsolt Enyedi |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2017/latif_danish.pdf |
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