Article published In:
Journal of Language and PoliticsVol. 21:5 (2022) ► pp.675–696
Utopia, war, and justice
The discursive construction of the state in ISIS’ political communications
Between 2014 and 2017, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) morphed from a terrorist organization into a proto-state that held a large swathe of territory, within which its strict interpretation of sharia law was enforced. We argue that ISIS discursively constructed itself politically by appealing to elements of both a traditional Islamic caliphate and a modern legitimate state. Linguistic and semiotic data is presented from political communications through social media that revolve around three key themes, specifically the construction of a utopian state founded on justice and engaged in righteous war, which all rely fundamentally on a conception of the modern state as holding a “monopoly on the legitimate use of force”, in Weber’s definition. We analyze this data from a critical discourse analysis (CDA) perspective, within a theoretical framework that draws on the political sociology of the state and political communications in asymmetric conflicts.
Keywords: CDA, Islamic State, ISIS, political sociology, state theory, Max Weber, asymmetric conflict
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Methodological underpinnings
- 3.Theoretical paradigms
- 3.1The political sociology of the state
- 3.1.1Monopoly of legitimate force
- 3.1.2Coercion and compulsion
- 3.1.3Authority and legitimacy
- 3.1.4Territoriality and sovereignty
- 3.2Asymmetric warfare and political communications
- 3.1The political sociology of the state
- 4.Discourses of utopia, war, and justice in ISIS texts
- 4.1Utopia
- 4.2War
- 4.3Justice
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
-
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