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Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Spend 15 minutes and watch Scott Atran's speech on why some young people join ISIS

by Salman Hameed

Last week I organized a panel on The phenomeon of ISIS through the eyes of cognitive science and it was a fantastic learning experience. If you are interested in a nuanced understanding of why young European Muslims join groups like ISIS, watch this short speech by Scott Atran. Of course, it is not about clash of civilizations - but rather about young people growing up in a globally connected world.  In particular, listen to his solutions from 7 minutes on and the problem with our existing counter-narratives to ISIS. This is an excellent talk based on interview data combined with social science, psychology, and anthropology.

2 comments:

  1. Always excited to see Atran speak to contemporary life, thanks for bringing the conference to us.

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  2. Yes - and he is spot on here. I'm reading ISIS: The State of Terror by Stern and Berger - and it is quite good. Much of its focus is on its media strategy.

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