The project

LIMBO Lives in Motion: Belonging and Otherness
Women, Minors, and Statelessness in the Context of Radicalization

LIMBO is a research project that analyses the experiences and life trajectories of women affiliated with the organisation known as the Islamic State and of the minors involved, with a focus on the intersections among radicalisation, agency, belonging and statelessness. The research comprises six case studies: Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Tunisia, France and the United Kingdom.

The study of jihadist ideology, with particular attention to the roles assigned to women and children, is interwoven with an analysis of the social and cultural conditions the social and cultural conditions that characterise the involvement of women, children, and adolescents in contexts of political violence.. Through an interdisciplinary, comparative and transnational perspective, LIMBO links the study of classical and contemporary Islamic sources on jihad, the self-representations of those involved, and the dominant media and political narratives. The project also examines the legal, political and social obstacles to repatriation and reintegration.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research within the framework of the Italian Science Fund (FIS Call 3).

Aims

The project aims to:

  • contribute to the academic debate on women’s participation in jihadist networks, and on minors’ involvement
  • examine the role of women in the production, interpretation, and transformation of jihadist ideology
  • reconstruct an intellectual history of jihadism, with particular reference to the organisation known as the Islamic State
  • write the histories of women and minors affiliated with the Islamic State;
  • deepen the study of the processes of radicalisation, statelessness, and the pathways to disengagement, repatriation, and reintegration
  • develop an interdisciplinary and gender-sensitive analysis of the dynamics of citizenship, belonging, and statelessness in the context following the Islamic State’s territorial dissolution
  • to share the research findings with policy-makers, civil society organisations and international institutions, contributing to the formulation of rehabilitation and reintegration policies, regulatory measures and strategies for the prevention of radicalisation.

Approach

The LIMBO project adopts an approach that is:

  • interdisciplinary, comparative, and qualitative. The research team brings together expertise in Islamic studies, area studies, critical terrorism studies, gender studies, and legal and social studies. The analysis of religious sources, archival documents, and media materials is complemented oral histories and ethnographic interviews, as well as by discourse analysis, scholarly literature, and public policy analysis
  • gender-sensitive and grounded in feminist theories. The project challenges dichotomous representations of women as either exclusively passive subjects or fully criminally responsible. Agency is analyzed as a situated and relational capacity, shaped by specific historical, political, and social contexts. The various forms of involvement in territories controlled by the Islamic State are therefore examined within their specific contexts, including their relationship to subsequent repatriation and reintegration processes
  • inspired by critical studies on childhood. The category of “minor” is considered a historical, social, and legal construct that varies across different geographic and cultural contexts. On this basis, the project analyzes the trajectories of minors who lived in territories controlled by the Islamic State and their subsequent experiences of statelessness, disengagement, repatriation, social and educational reintegration
  • inspired by critical studies on terrorism. The project critically examines the categories of radicalization, terrorism, and security, focusing on how they are constructed and applied by institutions, the media, and in public discourse

Expected Results

  • Production of national and international scientific publications on the core themes of the research
  • Consolidation of an interdisciplinary and international network among scholars, NGOs, institutions, and international organizations
  • Organization of conferences, workshops, and seminars for the scientific community, public policymakers, stakeholders, and civil society
  • Development and dissemination of knowledge useful for formulating more informed policies on repatriation, reintegration, statelessness, and the prevention of radicalization