Drumbeat: New Media and the Radicalization and Militarization of Young People

As the 21st century unfolds society is confronted with the normalization of warfare and political violence and their growing allure for the young. Current global political events highlight the extent to which young people have become the target of state and non-state agents in the prosecution of war. Governments increasingly target the young through media (social media, the Internet and videogames) and more directly through depictions of acts of violence (the massacre of children, the reliance on child soldiers, and the use of children in martyrdom operations). This book examines these issues within the framework of public pedagogy--how militarization functions as an educative process. Martino distinguishes between "radicalization," the application of propaganda and ideological methods by non-state agents, such as ISIS, and militarization, the application of propaganda and ideological methods by state agents. Non-state agents have been highly effective in appropriating visual aspects of militarized videogames in their propaganda messages and their appeal to young people. Militarization has become a powerful societal force even in the daily conduct of life in the West. Just as radicalization seeks to prepare the young for the conduct of violence– militarization also functions to position the broader society for war.