Uhud, Kairouan and the battle of Ben Gardane: situating Salafī-jihādist militancy in context

Christopher Ruddy; Shannon Brincat

doi:10.1080/17539153.2026.2677277

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Uhud, Kairouan and the battle of Ben Gardane: situating Salafī-jihādist militancy in context

Journal article

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Uhud, Kairouan and the battle of Ben Gardane: situating Salafī-jihādist militancy in context

Christopher Ruddy and Shannon Brincat

Critical Studies on Terrorism, Vol.Advanced access

26-May-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2026.2677277

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Abstract

critical terrorism studies

terrorism

violent extremism

discourse analysis

systemic functional linguistics

intertextuality

The persistent decontextualisation of terrorism and reluctance to engage with historical and structural conditions remains a key challenge for terrorism studies. In this paper, we apply a case study method and discourse analysis to help understand the historical, political, social and economic context of Salafī-jihādist militancy and discourse in Tunisia. We focus on Ben Gardane – a milieu for recruitment for Islamic State – and examine the group’s assault on the town in March 2016. By analysing all of the articles the group released after commencing the assault, we reveal discursive strategies that foreground structural precursors to terrorism, including a history of colonialism, corruption, oppression, disparity and economic marginalisation. We also identify intertextuality that situates the battle within a continuum of Muslim conquest and confrontation of aggressive foreign invasions posing a perceived existential threat to Islam. Our findings underscore improved governance as a peaceful and effective alternative to lethal military force in counter-terrorism strategies, particularly through the creation of meaningful, legitimate, and satisfying employment opportunities.

Details

Title: Uhud, Kairouan and the battle of Ben Gardane: situating Salafī-jihādist militancy in context
Authors: Christopher Ruddy (Corresponding Author) - Monash University
Shannon Brincat - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Critical Studies on Terrorism, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2026.2677277
ISSN: 1753-9161
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Organisation Unit: Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991233602202621
Output Type: Journal article

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