Women’s Recruitment Drivers in Terrorist Organizational Discourse: A Comparative Study of al-Qaeda and ISIS Publications

Abstract

This study examines the drivers of women’s recruitment in the discourse of al-Qaeda and ISIS, an underexplored dimension despite growing scholarly attention to women’s roles in terrorist organizations. While most existing studies have focused on individual or psychological motivations, limited attention has been devoted to propaganda discourse as a framework through which women’s roles are reconstructed and recruitment drivers are produced.

The study addresses the following research question: How do women’s recruitment drivers differ in the discourse of al-Qaeda and ISIS, and what factors explain this variation? To answer this question, the research employs content analysis of the organizations’ propaganda magazines—Sada al-Malahim, Inspire, and al-Khansaa (al-Qaeda), and Dabiq and Rumiyah (ISIS). The analysis is informed by social movements theory, particularly the concept of collective action framing, which explains how organizations reshape perceptions and mobilize individuals through discourse in pursuit of strategic objectives.

The findings indicate that women constitute central actors in the discourse of both organizations and that recruitment drivers are not static but evolve in response to political and battlefield transformations experienced by each group. Both organizations strategically reconfigure diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational frames to support adaptation and organizational survival. The study concludes that gender-targeted discourse functions as a pivotal organizational instrument extending beyond propaganda mobilization to sustaining cohesion and continuity, making the analysis of recruitment drivers essential for understanding the evolution of contemporary terrorism.