Common use of Synthesis Clause in Contracts

Synthesis. This section has inductively investigated terrorists’ engagement with radical content. It began by descriptively coding each of the identifiable “formal” propaganda and then comparing how actors engaged with it, finding that there were some cases in which the content could be deemed to play an active role, but these were relatively few in number. The ways in which individuals consumed radical content could better be described as an ongoing socialisation process in which content is consumed, discussed, and shared amongst peers. This led to the decision to theoretically sample informal (i.e. not created by terror groups or renowned speakers) content. An analysis of this shows that many individuals created content to construct a radical persona for their online audience. Moreover, actors also engaged in “shitposting” by creating and sharing memes and gifs, which draw from popular culture in a more light-hearted and jovial manner than the tone of typical IS propaganda. When considering what these findings present as a theory of online radicalisation, the data suggest that rather than radical content having a direct cause and effect relationship to motivate individuals towards terrorism, as is often explicitly or implicitly assumed as a radicalisation dynamic (For example: ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇, 2008; ▇▇▇▇▇, 2013; ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇, 2014; Neo, 2016), the consumption of propaganda should be seen as “mood music” – an important component of socialisation, but not necessarily a direct causative effect. Although this research cannot test the psychological mechanisms at play such as mortality salience (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2006) or creating a sense of moral outrage (2008), it does posit that there are important social dynamics. Regardless of whether propaganda can change attitudes or directly motivated individuals – for which there is little empirical evidence (▇▇▇▇▇▇, ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇ 2013; ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2015; ▇▇▇▇▇, 2019) – it can be conceptualised as “mood music” for individuals to converse and bond with each other, while presenting a cultural artefact for them to construct an idealised persona.