Leiden University Student Repository

Veivo, Ida (2018)

The Memory Terrorist: Memory Manipulation in Al-Shabaab's Twitter Campaign During the Westgate Attack

Bachelor thesis | International Studies (BA)

The purpose of this thesis is to use a new lens through which to analyse terrorist recruitment tactics. This will be done by examining how Al-Shabaab has manipulated the collective memory of the Kenyan ‘military intervention’ through their tweets during the Westgate terrorist attack of 2013. In order to answer this question, the tweets will be analysed through the field of memory studies, paying special attention to postmemory, collectivisation of memory, false memory creation and the establishment of imagined communities. This thesis concludes that Al-Shabaab and other terrorist organisations on a more global level are able to acquire recruits through manipulating how memories are represented in social media. By mediating the narrative of the Kenyan intervention in Twitter, Al-Shabaab is able to transmit the memory to a larger audience ensuring the continuity of their struggle against Kenya throughout varying social spheres and different generations.

Africa

Terrorism

Collective memory

Memory Manipulation

Al-Shabaab

Author

Veivo, Ida

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Africa

Supervisors

Williams, Corey

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en