The Jihadi Social Movement (JSM): Between Factional Hegemonic Drive, National Realities, and Transnational Ambitions

This article analyses the evolution of the jihadi social movement (JSM) in changing environmental and factionalcircumstances. The author argues that internationalist groups like al-Qaida and Islamic State seek to becomehegemonic in the JSM vis-à-vis nationally focused jihadis. Yet hegemony is associated with changing modes oforganisation that can weaken centralised organisational control and exacerbate internal divisions. Moreover,the post-2011 expansion of Islamist local governance presents new expectations that jihadi groups set up localstructures of governance, which can alter their internal dynamics and cannot endure as long as their allegianceto internationalist groups remains. This analysis illustrates the prospective choices of the components of the JSM