Guns and Grievances: A Rhetorical Analysis of Populism in Syrian Militant Social Media Communications Restricted; Files Only
Bader, Leah (Spring 2023)
Abstract
Populism is on the rise globally, with significant impacts on electoral outcomes and political power. However, the study of this prominent political ideology and communication style within the literature is concerned with electoral contexts and does not present sufficient analysis of populism within civil conflict. This thesis represents one of the first attempts to evaluate militant group populist rhetoric by constructing a theoretical framework of electoral populist theory and evaluating its applicability to militant group populist rhetoric. In conducting qualitative research utilizing dictionary- and process tracing methodology, I find that militant group use of populist rhetoric differs from electoral populism and warrants further study. My temporal analysis of militant group social media posts and militant group activity over time explores militant engagement in populist rhetoric and identifies ties between different manifestations of populist rhetoric. As usage of populist rhetoric and civil conflict increase, analysis of how actors in civil conflict engage in populist rhetoric is crucial.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: What Makes a Populist? 3
Literature Review of Populism Study 3
Conceptualizations of Militant Group Capacity 3
Understanding Populism 5
Defining Populism 7
Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework of Populism 9
Articulation of Grievance 10
In-Group Definition 12
Target of Culpability 13
Populism and Social Media 15
Alternate Explanations 16
Chapter 3: Methodology 19
Dictionary Research Design 19
Process Tracing Research Design 21
Case Selection 21
Militant Articulations of Populism 23
Threats 24
Rectification of Inequalities 25
Legitimization of Information Sources 26
Legitimization of Governance 27
Data 29
HTS Group Level Analysis 30
Chapter 4: Results 32
Exploration of Militant Populist Rhetoric: Manifestations of Populist Rhetoric 32
Exploration of Militant Populist Rhetoric: Aims of Populist Rhetoric 35
Impact of Populist Rhetoric on Capacity 40
Chapter 5: Discussion 51
Bibliography 54
Appendices 65
Appendix A: HTS Social Media Claim Coding Ontology 65
Appendix B: HTS Group Activity Timeline 2017- 2018 75
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File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 | 2023-04-10 10:15:43 -0400 | File download under embargo until 19 May 2025 |
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