Ontological Security beyond Binaries: Islamic State’s brOthering of Jihadist Competitors through Genocide

Ontological Security Theory has established that states pursue stable identities through autobiographical stories. Likewise, Genocide Studies has shown the importance of narrative for identity construction prior to instances of existential violence. However, these literatures have tended to focus on the narration of binary relations between Self and Other. Instead, we develop a novel account of non-state, and non-Western, ontological security-seeking behavior with a focus on Third figures, between Self and Other. Combining and contributing to research on Ontological Security, genocide, and brotherhood, we explore the importance of the figure of the “brOther.” Specifically, we are the first to theorize “brOthering” behavior, as the deliberate scripting of proximal alterity. Mobilizing a theory of the purposeful storying of in-group differentiation, our analysis reveals how Islamic State pursued a stable identity through relational alterity with proximal Others, brOthering groups such as Al Qaeda. We reveal that the pursuit of ontological security through brOthering motivated existential violence. In a crowded jihadist marketplace, genocide acted as a form of “Public Relations,” helping to produce a stable, coherent identity premised upon juxtaposition with proximal Third groups, between Self and Other.