Becoming Jihadis

This book charts how and why individuals become committed members and participants of violent extremist groups. The book draws heavily on 175 interviews with current and former members of 14 Islamist extremist groups in Indonesia and three in the Philippines between 2010 and 2019, as well as supporting documentation from draft autobiographies of militants, public interviews, and court depositions. It unpacks the joining process from initial engagement to commitment to participating in high-risk activism. In so doing, it highlights motivations for joining; internal and external pathways into extremist groups; how members and potential members express commitment; and how militants become involved in paramilitary training, jihad and terrorist attacks.