Discursive Construction of ‘Radicalization’ in International Relations Literature: A Case Study of Pakistan

Abstract

This thesis explores the Knowledge/Power nexus through the theoretical lens of social constructivism and locates the concept of ‘Radicalization’ within the emerging discourse of terrorism in International Relations. ‘Radicalization’ and ‘Extremism’ are used interchangeably in the scholarly articles. The interchangeable usability of radicalization and extremism has allowed the rationalist literature on International Relations to assign a meaning to ‘Radicalization’ within the context of terrorism. This research therefore, focuses on discursive formation of the meaning of ‘Radicalization’ which constructs the truth about ‘Radicalization’ through the text that has inextricably linked radicalization with terrorism. Consequently, the research will also unravel the discourse through which the constructed truth about ‘Radicalization’ imbues a ‘Radical Identity’ to Pakistan. The main objective of the research is to investigate: How is the meaning of ‘Radicalization’ fixed or stabilized through representational practices in International Relations? In simpler terms this thesis inquires is: how is the ‘truth’ about Radicalization discursively produced? How is this truth represented, and naturalized through the scholarly work on Pakistan? And how the West has come to represent and made authoritative claims about Pakistan’s ‘Radical Identity’? To that end, this thesis uses key texts on radicalization and Pakistan, as knowledge producing texts, to explore the construction of the representational identity of radicalism