Welcome to Volume 13, Issue 4 of the monthly VOX-Pol Newsletter.
WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT
Political Theology and the Digital Caliphate: Jihadism in the Age of Globalisation
11 June 2026, 10:00-17:00
Avenue Campus (room: TBC),
University of Southampton
This workshop invites contributions that examine the relationship between globalisation and the revival of the caliphate in contemporary Islamist thought and activism. Moving beyond purely theological explanations, the workshop seeks to explore how jihadism has evolved at the intersection of urban marginalisation, digital communication, demographic change, and political ideology.
By situating jihadism within the broader dynamics of global modernity, this workshop aims to move the debate beyond reductive security paradigms and toward a more nuanced understanding of how global inequality, digital connectivity, and political theology intersect in the contemporary revival of the caliphate.
We welcome interdisciplinary contributions from political theory, sociology, anthropology, media studies, history, religious studies, and international relations. Comparative, empirical, and theoretical papers are equally encouraged.
If you are interested in presenting a paper on any aspect related to the theme, please send a brief paragraph outlining your proposal to: Hormoz Ebrahimnejad by 11 May 2026.
Train tickets for attending and presenting your paper at the workshop will be provided.
The detailed programme for the day will be circulated in due course.
FUNDING SUCCESS: CONSTRUCTIVE ADVANCED THINKING 2026 CALL
Brigitte Naderer, Sören Henrich, Seán Looney & Jeremiah Perez-Torres have been awarded funding through the Constructive Advanced Thinking 2026 call for the research group “Crisis, Connectivity, and Meaning: Exploring Youth Extremism in the Digital Age”.
Over the three-year project period, the group members will undertake funded research stays to advance collaborative work on the intersections of youth extremism.
For more information on the project, please contact: Brigitte Naderer
VOX-Pol PUBLICATIONS
| Alessandro Bolpagni and Ali Fisher recently authored ‘Navigating Beyond the Digital Safe Haven’:Mapping the Course of pro-Islamic State Propaganda on Rocket.Chat through a URL Social Network Analysis by Perspective on Terrorism‘ in the journal Perspectives on Terrorism. Furthermore, he published a piece on ‘No shadowbans. No algorithmic games”: The Exploitation of UpScrolled by the pro-Islamic State Online Ecosystem‘ together with Eleonora Ristuccia on the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET). Lisa Sugiura and Suraj Lakhani published an article on ‘Framing misogyny in the metaverse: Theorising incel communities in virtual reality (VR) environments‘ in Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal. Kye Allen published a piece on ‘Rapid Growth, Emerging Risks: Far Right Violent Extremist Content on UpScrolled‘ on GNET. Anda Solea gave an expert interview and was quoted in this BBC article on ‘Sculpting jaws, giving scores: Inside the world of looksmaxxing’. |
RECENTLY ON THE VOX-Pol BLOG
| Recently published on the VOX-Pol Blog Jihadi Nasheed on Indonesian TikTok: From Militant Audio to Background Sound, 8 April 2026, by Nauval El Ghifari Social Media Isn’t Just Hosting the Far Right. It’s Pushing Democracy to the Brink, 1 April 2026, by Joshua Skoczylis and John Babalola Epstein Files Drop as a Driver for Conspiracy and Extremist Beliefs, 25 March 2026, by Brigitte Naderer & Carina Pleier Blurred Lines: Upscrolled And The Co-Option Of Legitimate Civic Discourse, 18 March 2026, by Sam David Analysing the Online Thugur of the Salafi-Jihadi Digital Ecosystem: Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, 11 March 2026, by Alessandro Bolpagni, Eleonora Ristuccia, and Grazia Ludovica Giardini Are you interested in publishing a VOX-Pol Blog post? Read our Blog submission instructions here. |
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