Degrees of Political Extremism in West Africa

Political extremism and rebel movements are not events. They are, instead, the outcomes of long dynamic processes involving oppressive governance structures of symbolic and systemic violence against citizens and communities. These processes and structures are the political contexts from which jihadist groups such as Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen emerge. Against this background, this article reviews four constitutive elements of political extremism: grievances, networks, legitimating ideologies, and local contexts. It argues that we can, and should, think of the potential for political extremism within African countries in terms of the degree to which these elements are available to serve as motivation, justification, opportunity, and capacity for political extremism. I argue that West African countries might be categorised as those experiencing political extremism and those that may do so in the future. The article draws on the literature on political violence, and cases and examples from Nigeria and Ghana.