Framing Sweden as a target of terrorism : An analysis of al-Qaeda’s collective action frames about Sweden in response to the Qur’an burnings

Sammanfattning

This study examines how Sweden transformed into a target in al-Qaeda’s public discourse in response to the Qur’an burnings in the nation. Using contentious politics, a theoretical framework and collective action frames as the analytical framework, statements made by al-Qaeda and affiliates framing Sweden as a legitimate target were analyzed. The results shows that three diagnostic frames were recurring across the statements constructing Sweden as a target because of its involvement in sacrilege against Islam, Western hypocrisy about freedom of expression, and a continuous war against Islam. The prognostic framing refers to physical violence as the course of action, and Muslim duties and future rewards as motives for mobilization. The findings carry important implications for research into how symbolic incidents can function as triggers for the construction of states as legitimate targets of terrorism. More so, it suggests the need for institutions to take discursive elements of terrorist organizations into account when making risk assessments. Future academic research could build on the findings by conducting a comparative analysis of the effect of the Qur’an burnings in Sweden and Denmark, respectively, on al-Qaeda’s target selection discourse.