How do non-state actors such as Islamic State constitute online publics and collectives that further their political goals and form the foundation of a state-building enterprise? In this chapter, I argue that the spaces beyond the control of states, in this case the digital world, is where ISIS performs as a state in the economic realm of rebel governance. I use Weber’s (1998) argument in “Performative States” on non-state actors, Anderson’s (2016) argument on print capitalism paving the way to state-building, through Grimellmann’s (2015) definition of an online community to expand Mampilly’s (2015) use of the symbolic process in rebel governance, by looking at monetary economics in non-state actor digital communication. Integrating rebel governance with computational data science, this study maps and analyses rhetorical collectives within ISIS’s three main online publications: Dabiq, Rumiyah, and al-Naba. These findings highlight how non-state actors use the rhetoric of economics and performative statehood, to form collectives, differentiate sub-groups, and define themselves and their enemies in the digital world. The possibilities of targeting the rhetoric of economics to different audiences online identified in the study open opportunities for understanding how economic discussions can help fuel polarization moving forward. The study also reveals the value of more broadly approaching the communication output of non-state actors in social media rather than narrowly focusing on their political discourse.
Publication: Technology and Governance Beyond the State: The Rule of Non-Law.