CAIS Research Scholar, Katja Theodorakis, was a finalist in the ANU round of the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. The 3MT Final was held at Llewellyn Hall on Wednesday 14 September at 6pm. Katja spoke on the topic: 'Thinking like jihadis do?'

Katja has been working on her doctoral thesis at CAIS for just over 12 months and has identified her research interests with the title: 'Caliphate Calling: Understanding the Appeal of Radical Islam as a Challenge to Liberal Modernity'.

Watch an interview with Katja and a fellow ANU PhD scholar, Josh, on ABC666

Her research explores the ‘moral’ motivations of Western jihadis and how they construct a new identity based on anti-Westernism. Katja holds a Bachelor of Development Studies (First Class Honours) from the ANU, with her thesis concentrating on how knowledge about the Middle East is produced. She has travelled extensively and previously lived in Syria, where she was involved in NGO work and educational projects.

Katja outlined her thesis topic:
"The liberal West has always had its enemies. While it was the Nazis and communists during the 20th century, militant Islamists have taken their place as the scripted global villains of our time.
Especially since the latest wave of violent jihadism, beginning with 9/11 and culminating in the rise of the so-called Islamic State, their ideology is commonly viewed as nothing more than a nihilistic rage against modernity’s values. Precisely because of the violence that accompanies their message, it is seen as inherently inhumane, evil and devoid of a moral compass.
Yet many accounts of Western foreign fighters and supporters of jihad reveal fascinating glimpses of a normative framework and self-understanding as ‘the good guys’ on the world stage. In other words, they seem to perceive themselves as noble warriors fighting injustices in order to create a better world.
To understand this better, especially in regards to the appeal of the jihadi life on young Westerns, my research takes a different approach. For this end, I am examining the first-hand accounts of Western jihadis through their blog posts, media testimonies and twitter feeds. By delving more into the ‘hearts and minds of the villains’, so to speak, it seeks to uncover more nuanced insights about how the West is viewed by its enemies. In particular, it tries to uncover what formulations of a new and superior ‘moral’ self, a kind of jihadi superman identity, underpin their radical consciousness."