Recruits join ISIS chiefly for belonging and fellowship, not hatred

Evidence

Capital doesn’t have much of an answer, but ISIS does. A disputed poll “suggested that more than one in four French youth between the ages of 18 and 24 have a favourable or very favourable opinion of ISIS, although only 7–8% of France is Muslim.” Whatever the truth of this survey, the willingness to believe it indicates that there is a growing suspicion that societies dominated by capital are now encountering mass disaffection and defection. “More than three of every four who join ISIS from abroad do so with friends and family. Most are young, in transitional stages in life: immigrants, students, between jobs and mates, having just left their native family. They join a ‘band of brothers (and sisters)’ ready to sacrifice for significance.” The motivation is belonging and fellowship, not hatred. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2020

Categorization

• QUESTION: The poll’s credibility is disputed; worth tracing the primary-source surveys on ISIS recruitment motives.
• XREF: Chimes with the recruitment sociology and ‘surplus population’ theme in Naomi Klein; also with earlier K-Punk notes on Islamism rising as left collapsed. — connects to: Becoming a group member, not violence, is the dominant motive for terrorist followers.; Member participation emerges from ideology and culture, not structure alone — Adrian Josef Amon, Organizing the study of degeneration…, 83; Extremist recruitment recruits through belonging and fellowship, not hatred — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2020

Broader Connections

• Becoming a group member, not violence, is the dominant motive for terrorist followers. #corroborates (0.92)
• Member participation emerges from ideology and culture, not structure alone #corroborates (0.85) — Adrian Josef Amon, Organizing the study of degeneration…, 83