Henriette Esholdt

Assistant Professor of Global Studies
Department of Natural and Social Sciences , School of Education and Communication
Presentation Publications

Research 

Henriette Frees Esholdt’s research focuses on militant Islamism. More specifically, she specializes in women in Islamist terrorist organizations such as ISIS and has particular expertise in open-source social media studies and ethnographic approaches to the study of Islamist radicalization and terrorism. She is also interested in the crime–terror nexus, honour-based violence, disinformation campaigns, and psychological defence.

Esholdt is Programme Director of the Master’s Programme in Conflict, Risk and International Security (CRIS), launching in autumn 2026. Her teaching covers Security Studies, Terrorism Studies, Criminology, Risk Management, and War and Changing World Orders.

Previous research projects: 

“After the Caliphate: Mobilization of Women and Men in the Salafi-Jihadi Environment in Sweden.” Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), research project (2021–2023), 3,900,000 SEK. Co-applicant with Professor Marco Nilsson as Principal Investigator.

“The Attractions of Violence-Promoting Islamist Extremism: An Investigation of Masculinity and Femininity.” Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), Junior Research Project (2017–2020), 4,045,000 SEK. Principal Investigator with co-applicants Associate Professor Mehmet Ümit Necef, University of Southern Denmark, and Professor Malin Åkerström, Lund University.

Biography 

Henriette Frees Esholdt is Associate Professor (Docent) of Sociology, a terrorism researcher, and Senior Lecturer in Global Studies specializing in Security Studies. Prior to joining Jönköping University in 2026, she served as Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg (2024–2025) and as Researcher at Lund University (2017–2024).

Academic Background

  • Associate Professor (Docent) of Sociology, University of Gothenburg, 2025.
  • PhD in Sociology, Lund University, 2015.
  • Master of Science (MSc) in Sociology, University of Copenhagen, 2008.
  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sociology, University of Copenhagen, 2005.
  • University Diploma in Social Science (major in sociology), Lund University, 2003. 

To further develop her expertise, Esholdt returned to the classroom a few years ago to pursue a Master’s degree in Intelligence and Cyber Studies, offered as a collaborative programme between the University of Southern Denmark and the Royal Danish Defence College, which she expects to complete in 2026.

Article

Esholdt, H., Nilsson, M. (2025). Hardship is Part of Jihad: ISIS-Affiliated Women in the Al-Hol Camp Dealing with Military Defeat Through Social Media “Prison Writings” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. More information
Nilsson, M., Esholdt, H. (2025). After the Caliphate: Changing Mobilization in the Swedish Salafi-Jihadist Environment following the Fall of ISIS Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 48(5), 463-484. More information
Necef, M., Esholdt, H. (2025). Jihadi Kitsch: The Promesse de Bonheur of Islamist Terrorism Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 48(8), 833-858. More information
Esholdt, H., Necef, M. (2024). Moral Policing of Gender Norms: Honor-Based Violence as a Mobilizing Factor Towards Militant Islamism Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. More information
Esholdt, H., Elmose Jørgensen, K. (2024). Emotional Trials in Terrorism Research: Running Risks When Accessing Salafi-Jihadist Foreign Fighter Returnees and Their Social Milieu Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 47(4), 432-456. More information
Esholdt, H. (2022). Har de skandinaviske ISIS- kvinder indtaget operative militære roller i Kalifatet? Tidsskrift for islamforskning, 16(1). More information
Jørgensen, K., Esholdt, H. (2021). “She Is a Woman, She Is an Unbeliever—You Should not Meet with Her”: An Ethnographic Account of Accessing Sala Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology, 10(3). More information
Esholdt, H. (2019). Virgins, Terrorists, and Ten Children: Immigrants' Humorous Play with Ethnic Stereotypes in Bonding with Danes in the Workplace Symbolic interaction, 42(4), 691-716. More information

Doctoral thesis

Esholdt, H. (2015). Når humor, leg og lyst er på spil: Social interaktion på en multietnisk arbejdsplads (Doctoral thesis, Lund: Lunds Universitet). More information

Book chapter

Esholdt, H. (2022). The attractions of Salafi-jihadism as a gendered counterculture: Propaganda narratives from the Swedish online "sisters in <em>deen</em>". In: Magnus Ranstorp, Linda Ahlerup & Filip Ahlin (Ed.), Salafi-Jihadism and Digital Media: The Nordic and International Context Abingdon: Routledge More information
Esholdt, H. (2016). Styres forskningen af frygten for at blive kaldt racist? praksisnære overvejelser. In: Mehmet Ümit Necef & Torben Bech Dyrberg (Ed.), Multikulturalismens fælder: Mørklægning og moralisme i medier, forskning og politik Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur More information