The Life Cycle of a British Islamist: A Jungian Perspective
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Alschuler, Lawrence
Abstract / Description
Edward Edinger, in 'Ego and archetype: Individuation and the religious function of the psyche,' designates as "unconscious religion" the psychological role played by political movements when religious institutions cease to provide containers for the spiritual strivings of individuals. I include Islamism as a political movement. Edinger's description of unconscious religion closely resembles the experience of a young British-born Muslim, Ed Husain, in 'The Islamist: Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left.' Husain follows a path from being a traditional Muslim to a fanatical Islamist to a spiritual Muslim. Edinger applies Jungian psychology to describe four alternative consequences for persons whose religious institutions respond inadequately to their "religious instinct." These alternatives are: Adherence to an unconscious religion, psychological inflation, alienation, and individuation. In the case study, surprisingly, Ed Husain experiences all four of these alternatives in sequence, constituting a life cycle. The article concludes, optimistically, that this may be a natural sequence for those who embrace fanatical Islamism.
Keyword(s)
Islamism Ed Husain unconscious religion Edward Edinger fanaticismPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2014-02-21
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
2
Issue
1
Page numbers
31–42
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Alschuler, L. (2014). The Life Cycle of a British Islamist: A Jungian Perspective. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.272
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Alschuler, Lawrence
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:44:32Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:44:32Z
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Date of first publication2014-02-21
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Abstract / DescriptionEdward Edinger, in 'Ego and archetype: Individuation and the religious function of the psyche,' designates as "unconscious religion" the psychological role played by political movements when religious institutions cease to provide containers for the spiritual strivings of individuals. I include Islamism as a political movement. Edinger's description of unconscious religion closely resembles the experience of a young British-born Muslim, Ed Husain, in 'The Islamist: Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left.' Husain follows a path from being a traditional Muslim to a fanatical Islamist to a spiritual Muslim. Edinger applies Jungian psychology to describe four alternative consequences for persons whose religious institutions respond inadequately to their "religious instinct." These alternatives are: Adherence to an unconscious religion, psychological inflation, alienation, and individuation. In the case study, surprisingly, Ed Husain experiences all four of these alternatives in sequence, constituting a life cycle. The article concludes, optimistically, that this may be a natural sequence for those who embrace fanatical Islamism.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationAlschuler, L. (2014). The Life Cycle of a British Islamist: A Jungian Perspective. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.272en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1335
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1675
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.272
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Keyword(s)Islamismen_US
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Keyword(s)Ed Husainen_US
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Keyword(s)unconscious religionen_US
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Keyword(s)Edward Edingeren_US
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Keyword(s)fanaticismen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleThe Life Cycle of a British Islamist: A Jungian Perspectiveen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue1
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers31–42
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Volume2
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record