Journal for Deradicalization
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Youth Delinquency or Everyday Racism? Front-line Professionals’ Perspectives on Preventing Racism and Intolerance in Sweden
Get PDFIn this article, I ask which problematizations of racism and intolerance that substantiate a local implementation of a targeted educational program in Sweden, called the Tolerance Project. By participating in municipality-level meetings and conversations with front-line professionals concerning the recent implementation of the program in one specific region, I have found several motivations for the continuing work to reduce racism and intolerance at schools. To emphasize this point, I have divided the problematizations into four ideal types and applied a ‘what’s the problem represented to be’ analysis to each of them. The four problematizations can be described in the following terms: generational racism, growth of the Sweden Democrats, normalization of racist language, and general ‘at-risk’ youths. The first three problematizations are context dependent, in terms of both time (during the so-called refugee crisis) and space (in a region with a long history of National Socialism). Problematizing generational racism, growth of the Sweden Democrats and normalization of racist language indicate that what is mainly to be prevented is anti-immigrant sentiments in the young as well as the adult population. This implies a limitation to the role of schools in prevention, as adults cannot be directly targeted by the school. The fourth ideal type, at-risk youth, emphasizes that there are certain risk factors that might cause young people to later radicalize or deviate in one way or another. This corresponds to the general discourse of radicalization, but, in line with other studies of front-line professionals’ perspectives, there is no clear distinction between preventing radicalization and fostering democratic citizens. Furthermore, the conglomeration of problematizations might decrease the stigmatizing effect that a targeted initiative can have, as opposed to initiatives that operate with one specific target group. The Tolerance Project might thus be a useful model for the prevention of all forms of radicalization
Initiatives and Perceptions to Counter Violent Extremism in the Coastal Region of Kenya
Get PDFThe Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) discourse in Kenya reflects the larger Global War on Terror (GWOT) policy framework. Donor-driven governmental approaches support the top-down efforts to counter violent extremism. CVE initiatives now emerging in response to the rise of homegrown violent extremism in Kenya, in contrast, seek to encourage more community participation in the campaign to limit the activities of Al-Shabaab. This article examines existing countering violent extremism (CVE) initiatives in order to elucidate the effectiveness and shortcomings of CVE interventions. The findings are based on an ethnographic study in the coastal region of Kenya comprising of 249 in-depth interviews with key informants, observations and eight focus group discussions. The article maps existing CVE projects across Kenya’s coast including the prevention framework of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions as modelled on preventative public health approaches. Assessment of existing CVE programs provides information elucidating what works and for whom from a community perspective. Feedback from the community is critical for, facilitating effective measures for mitigating the process of youth radicalization in the coast region. The findings reported here recommend periodic consultation with the intended beneficiaries and other CVE initiatives’ stakeholders to enhance the sustainability of the projects
Radicalization as a Vector: Exploring Non-Violent and Benevolent Processes of Radicalization.
Get PDFSuccessful radicalization posits three outcomes: extremism, terrorism or both. As these are undesirable, radicalization is understood as wholly malevolent and governments work to prevent and/or stop it. Nonetheless, a handful of scholars have recognized that the same radicalization process which results in either outcome may, theoretically at least, also have beneficial outcomes such as environmental awareness or human rights. This article explores one such outcome. Based on interviews with British Muslim aid workers (n=6) operating in Jihadist conflict zones post Arab spring and using constructivist grounded theory, it illustrates how the research participants radicalized to humanitarianism which resulted in them assisting the most plighted of Muslims by deploying to the most wanton of areas: ones commonly referred to as Jihadist conflict zones. Evidently, these destinations are shared with Jihadists and given the array of other observable similarities (socio-demographics and [pre-]mobilization behaviours), these morally opposed groups become conflated by the security services. This is further compounded by the fact that Jihadists manipulate and/or impersonate aid workers so as to funnel people and funds. To distinguish both, this article documents the benevolent pathway of the research participants and juxtaposes it to scholarly knowledge on Jihadist pathways. Socialization was revealed to be the key distinguishing feature rather than descriptive risk factors (such as ideology or moral outrage) because the process of radicalization was not found to be the start of the radicalized pathway. It concludes that benevolently radicalized Islamic groups constitute an effective means of pathway divergence for particular typologies by offering an attractive and prosocial alternative to Jihadism. This strengths-based preventative approach (“what’s right”) takes the form of a community-centric market competitor to Jihadism rather than a problem-based approach (“what’s wrong”) which only targets those at risk, but inadvertently tars the whole community in the process.
Trends in Anti-Fascist and Anarchist Recruitment and Mobilization
Get PDFFor many, the discourse on anarchists' violence belongs to the past, to an era that shocked the world but ended a long time ago. However, this assumption is not accurate in the twentieth-first century. It ignores the reality that allows extremists to rise from the dust, gain popularity and use available tools to promote themselves and their ideas, and thus, to pose a new potential threat. While most of the research on radicalization and political violent extremism focuses on jihadism or the contemporary right-wing extremism, it is important not to ignore the reaction that right-wing extremists created and provoked in the past, which is still relevant in our days: left-wing extremism, which is embodied today in violent anarchists and anti-fascists. This article sheds light on the contemporary left-wing extremism and violent mobilization in Europe and North America, its reflections on the Internet and in music, and its violent activity at home against "fascist" representatives (such as right-wing extremist groups and individuals), and even abroad, against other "fascist" representatives, such as the Islamic State organization. The purpose of the article is to examine this under-researched phenomenon while focusing on popular and recent modes of mobilization and recruitment of this "new revolutionary left", which reflect a threat that is developing in Europe, North America and the Middle East – but not from the jihadi or right-wing aspects, but from anti-fascist and anarchists' militancy aspect
Why beliefs always matter, but rarely help us predict jihadist violence. The role of cognitive extremism as a precursor for violent extremism.
Get PDFMuch of the rhetoric spread by jihadist organisations seems to indicate a strong commitment towards a set of religious and political ideas. But does cognitive extremism really lead to violent extremism? Terrorism scholars have been divided by this question for over a decade now. This article summarises and reflects upon the key theoretical debates about the question whether cognitive extremism really is a precursor for violent extremism. Using Schmid’s distinction between non-violent and not-violent political movements, it argues that even though there is no linear path from adopting extremist ideas towards committing acts of violence, cognitive extremism of some extent seems to be a necessary precondition for violent extremism and that beliefs always play a, though not necessarily the central role. This however does not mean that cognitive extremism is a great predictor for eventual violent extremism or that violent extremists are necessarily the most ideologically radicalised
Community Cohesion and Countering Violent Extremism: Interfaith Activism and Policing Methods in Metro Detroit
Get PDFAreas within Metro-Detroit, USA have been called “Shariaville” or labelled as containing “no-go zones” and yet the area lacks a definitive issue with radicalization. This article examines this gap between perceptions and reality of Metro Detroit by reflecting upon notions of community as experienced by community members and how that connects with ongoing debates regarding the role of community in countering violent extremism (CVE). Based on fieldwork conducted in Metro Detroit, this paper outlines two overlooked mechanisms that strengthen a multicultural community. This includes interfaith dialogue and activism as well as an emphasis on community methods. This article argues that mechanisms that strengthen community cohesion builds resilient societies which then remain uninterested in radicalization. Metro Detroit was chosen as the basis for this work due to its extremely diverse ethnic and religious populations, yet relatively low numbers of radicalized community members. Ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with key community members indicated a strong network of interfaith organizations and activism within Metro Detroit. Furthermore, law enforcement prioritizes policing at the community level while respecting the cultural norms and values of the diverse population. This article suggests that building on processes such as interfaith dialogues and effective community policing creates contexts within communities where violent extremism becomes less of a concern
Factors Facilitating the Successful Implementation of a Prevention of Violent Radicalization Intervention as Identified by Front-Line Practitioners
Get PDFEmpirical research, already quite infrequent in fundamental research on radicalization, is even more limited when it comes to intervention. In addition, a modest amount of attention has been paid to the experience and everyday practice of practitioners involved in prevention of radicalization interventions in the literature. To fill this gap, the International Center for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) conducted an international study of front-line practitioners in the prevention of radicalization to pay particular attention to their practical experience and identify key issues they faced. This information was obtained from interviews with 90 experts and front-line practitioners from 27 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. This article will present some of the key findings from this study, namely the factors identified by first-line practitioners as facilitating the successful implementation of prevention of violent radicalization interventions
Becoming, belonging and leaving – Exit processes among young neo-Nazis in Sweden
Get PDFThere is a growing field of studies on exit processes from extremist and militant organizations. At the same time, however, what is missing is a more developed oral history of exit processes in different European countries. Interviewing individuals who left the neo-Nazi movement five or ten years ago, we have studied and analyzed how the interviewees’ narratives of exit processes are re-constructed and told today. Their reconstruction of narratives and stories on the exit process was influenced by several different factors, such as the time axis, education, intimate relations, employment situation, gender, and class. The results pointed towards a number of push and pull factors. The exit processes were seldom straightforward and linear, but instead dependent upon many social-psychological factors and processes
Counter-Radicalisation Through Safeguarding: A Political Analysis of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (2015)
Get PDFThe Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (CTSA) mandates specified authorities to demonstrate due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism; what is better known as the ‘PREVENT Duty’. As part of this duty, public sector workers are required to identify a person’s proclivity for radicalisation, and, in turn, report concerns as a safeguarding measure. Drawing upon Rose and Miller’s matrix of political analysis, this article explores the PREVENT Duty through three theoretical areas: political rationalities; problematisations; and technologies of government. Framing the CTSA as a political rationality helps conceptualise the justifications and exercise of power in and between diverse authorities. Central to this is the way problematisations of risks connect to forms of knowledge, practices and technologies which become reproblematised and (de)politicised to create (un)stable assemblages of (in)security. The utility of governmental technologies helps situate PREVENT as it permeates the actuarial practices of mundane social care environments. Related to this, I draw attention to the governance of PREVENT which, I argue, is realised discursively through language. Through these theoretical frameworks I explore PREVENT as having undergone a process of rectification; this entails the mutation of PREVENT towards safeguarding. At a broader level, this article contributes to a reconstituted understanding of PREVENT by examining the intertwining of social care structures and counter-radicalisation
Closing the “Critical Disconnect“. The establishment of regional prevention networks at the interface of prevention and deradicalisation work using the example of the Federal State Democracy Centre Baden-Wuerttemberg
Get PDFIn many cases of jihadist radicalisation, the direct environment perceived signs and/or knew about the plans of the individual to join a terrorist group (Gill et al., 2014, p. 429). Yet, it can be assumed that only a small number of these persons reported their observations to the competent authorities. The fear of putting the relationship with the radicalising individual or themselves at risk can lead these persons to keep their observations a secret (Williams et al., 2015). This paper argues that the establishment of local points of contact where trained resources persons operate as so-called gatekeepers (Williams et al., 2015, p. 45) could be a meaningful step towards overcoming the lack of trust in the relevant CVE service providers. The establishment of these points of contact as exemplified by the regional prevention network of the Federal State Democracy Centre Baden-Wuerttemberg advances the crucial transition from prevention work to deradicalisation through the qualification of locally embedded resource persons. The points of contact can implement prevention strategies in the districts which are tailored to local requirements and specificities (White House, 2015). Therefore, local points of contact operate at the intersection of prevention work and the federal deradicalisation unit. The concept of a regional prevention network demonstrates the possibility to establish an early warning system with respect to the radicalisation of youths