From terrorism to extremism: policies for preventing violent extremism in Europe
Keywords:
preventing violent extremism (PVE), counter-terrorism, prevention, radicalisation, EuropeAbstract
Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n. 128
Quadrimestral (May-September 2021)
ISSN:1133-6595 - E-ISSN:2013-035X
DOI: doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2021.128.2.15
This article analyses the evolution of the paradigm of the antiterrorist strategy and its most recent manifestation in Europe: policies for prevention of violent extremism (PVE). By means of a wide-ranging survey of the literature evaluating the PVE at the European level, the article is concerned with the main political and social consequences of these policies as they are described in the academic literature. By focusing on abstract, ideological elements — extremism — and concentrating on the related ideologies, the result of the PVE is a prevention policy that penetrates and securitises social, domestic, and private spheres, while also incorporating new security-related actors. As will be shown, this logic turns out to be problematic and, in some cases, counterproductive.
>> The full text articles are available in Spanish language, although in this issue some of them are also available in English language.
References
Abbas, Tahir. «Implementing ‘Prevent’ in countering violent extremism in the UK: A left-realist critique». Critical Social Policy, vol. 39, n.° 3 (2019), p. 396-412.
Aiello, Emilia; Puigvert, Lidia y Shubert, Tinka. «Preventing violent radicalization of youth through dialogic evidence-based policies». International Sociology, vol. 33, n.° 4 (2018) p. 435-453.
Ali, Nadya. «Seeing and unseeing Prevent’s racialized borders». Security Dialogue, vol. 51, n.° 6 (2020), p. 579-596.
Altermark, Niklas y Nilsson, Hampus. «Crafting the “well-rounded citizen”: empowerment and the government of counterradicalization». International Political Sociology, vol. 12, n.° 1 (2018) p. 53-69.
Argomaniz, Javier. «European Union responses to terrorist use of the Internet». Cooperation and Conflict, vol. 50, n.° 2 (2015), p. 250-268.
Augestad Knudsen, Rita. «Between vulnerability and risk? Mental health in UK counter-terrorism». Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, vol. 13, n.º 1 (2021), p. 43-61.
Baker-Beall, Christopher; Heath-kelly, Charlotte y Jarvis, Lee (eds.). Counter-Radicalisation. Critical Perspectives. Abingdon y Nueva York: Routledge, 2015.
Bjørgo, Tore. «Dreams and disillusionment: engagement in and disengagement from militant extremist groups». Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 55, n.° 4 (2011), p. 277-285.
Boukalas, Christos. «The Prevent paradox: destroying liberalism in order to protect it». Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 72, n.° 4 (2019), p. 467-482.
Briggs, Rachel. «Community engagement for counterterrorism: lessons from the United Kingdom». International Affairs, vol. 86, n.° 4 (2010), p. 971-981.
Brighton, Shane. «British Muslims, multiculturalism and UK foreign policy: ‘integration’ and ‘cohesion’ in and beyond the state». International Affairs, vol. 83, n.° 1 (2007) p. 1-17.
Bryan, Hazel. «Developing the political citizen: How teachers are navigating the statutory demands of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 205 and the Prevent Duty». Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 3 (2017), p. 213-226.
Busher, Joel; Choudry, Tufyal y Thomas, Paul. «The enactment of the counter-terrorism “Prevent duty” in British schools and colleges: beyond reluctant accommodation or straightforward policy acceptance». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 12, n.º 3 (2019), p. 440-462.
Butler, Michelle. «Using Specialised Prison Units to Manage Violent Extremists: Lessons from Northern Ireland». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 32, n.° 3 (2020), p. 539-557.
Cano Paños, Miguel Ángel. «La lucha contra la amenaza yihadista más allá del Derecho penal: Análisis de los programas de prevención de la radicalización y des-radicalización a nivel europeo». Revista de Estudios en Seguridad Internacional, vol. 4, n.° 2 (2018), p. 177-205.
Choudhury, Tufyal. «Campaigning on Campus: Student Islamic Societies and Counterterrorism». Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 40, n.° 12 (2017), p. 1.004-1.022.
Davies, Lynn. «Security, Extremism and Education: Safeguarding or Surveillance?». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 64, n.° 1 (2016), p. 1-19.
Dresser, Paul. «“Trust your instincts – act!” PREVENT police officers’ perspectives of counter-radicalisation reporting thresholds». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 12, n.° 4 (2019), p. 605-628.
Durodie, Bill. «Securitising Education to Prevent Terrorism or Losing Direction?». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 64, n.° 1 (2016), p. 21-35.
Elshimi, Mohammed. «De-radicalisation interventions as technologies of the self: a Foucauldian analysis». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 8, n.° 1 (2015), p. 110-129.
Fernández de Mosteyrín, Laura y Limón López, Pedro «Paradigmas y prevención del terrorismo: una aproximación al Plan Estratégico Nacional de Lucha contra la Radicalización Violenta (PEN-LCRV 2015)». Política y Sociedad, vol. 54, n.° 3 (2017), p. 805-827.
Ganesh, Bharath y Bright, Jonathan. «Countering Extremists on Social Media: Challenges for Strategic Communication and Content Moderation». Policy & Internet, vol. 12, n.° 1 (2020), p. 6-19.
Gielen, Amy-Jane. «Exit programmes for female jihadists: A proposal for conducting realistic evaluation of the Dutch approach». International Sociology, vol. 33, n.° 4 (2018), p. 454-472.
Gøtzsche-Astrup, Johan. «Civil society and its outside: Analysing the boundary between civil and uncivil society in the Danish anti-radicalization discourse». Journal of Civil Society, vol. 15, n.° 2 (2019), p. 162-177.
Heath-Kelly, Charlotte. «Counter‐Terrorism and the Counterfactual: Producing the ‘Radicalisation’ Discourse and the UK PREVENT Strategy». The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 15, n.° 3 (2013), p. 394-415.
Heath-Kelly, Charlotte, «Algorithmic autoimmunity in the NHS: Radicalisation and the clinic». Security Dialogue, vol. 48, n.° 1 (2017a), p. 29-45.
Heath-Kelly, Charlotte. «The geography of pre-criminal space: epidemiological imaginations of radicalisation risk in the UK Prevent Strategy, 2007–2017». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 10, n.° 2 (2017b), p. 297-319.
Heath-Kelly, Charlotte y Strausz, Erzsébet. «The banality of counterterrorism “after, after 9/11”? Perspectives on the Prevent duty from the UK health care sector». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 12, n.° 1 (2018), p. 89-109.
Hill, Ryan. «Counter-Extremism in British Schools: Ensuring Respect for Parents’ Rights Over Their Children’s Religious Upbringing». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 67, n.° 1 (2019), p. 115-129.
Institute of Race Relations. «Evidence to the UK parliamentary select committee inquiry on preventing violent extremism». Race & Class, vol. 51, n.° 3 (2010), p. 73-80.
Janmaat, Jan Germen. «Educational influences on young people’s support for fundamental British values». British Educational Research Journal, vol. 44, n.° 2 (2018), p. 251-273.
Jerome, Lee y Elwick, Alex. «Identifying an Educational Response to the Prevent Policy: Student Perspectives on Learning about Terrorism, Extremism and Radicalisation». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 67, n.° 1 (2019), p. 97-114.
Korn, Judy. «European CVE Strategies from a Practitioner’s Perspective. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science», vol. 668, n.° 1 (2016), p. 180-197.
Kundnani, Arun. «Radicalisation: the journey of a concept». Race & Class, vol. 54, n.° 2 (2012), p. 3-25.
Kundnani, Arun y Hayes, Ben. «The globalisation of Countering Violent Extremism policies. Undermining human rights, instrumentalising civil society». The Transnational Institute, (6 de marzo de 2018) (en línea) [Fecha de consulta: 12.04.2021] https://www.tni.org/en/publication/the-globalisation-of-countering-violent-extremism-policies
Kyriacou, Chris; Szczepek Reed, Beatrice; Said, Fatma y Davies, Ian. «British Muslim university students’ perceptions of Prevent and its impact on their sense of identity». Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 2 (2017), p. 97-110.
Lakhani, Suraj. «Social capital and the enactment of prevent duty: an empirical case-study of schools and colleges». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 13, n.° 4 (2020), p. 660-679.
Lindekilde, Lasse. «Neo-liberal Governing of “Radicals”: Danish Radicalization Prevention Policies and Potential Iatrogenic Effects». International Journal of Conflict and Violence, vol. 6, n.° 1 (2012), p. 109-125.
Lowe, David. «Prevent Strategies: The Problems Associated in Defining Extremism: The Case of the United Kingdom». Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 40, n.° 11 (2017), p. 917-933.
Martin, Thomas. «Identifying potential terrorists: Visuality, security and the Channel project». Security Dialogue, vol. 49, n.° 4 (2018), p. 254-271.
Martini, Alice. The UN and counter-terrorism. Global Hegemonies, power and identities. Abingdon: Routledge, 2021.
Martini, Alice; Ford, Kieran y Jackson, Richard. Encountering Extremism: Theoretical Issues and Local Challenges. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2020.
Mattsson, Chister y Säljö, Roger. «Violent Extremism, National Security and Prevention. Institutional Discourses and their Implications for Schooling». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 66, n.° 1 (2018), p. 109-125.
Mcglynn, Catherine y Mcdaid, Shaun. «Radicalisation and Higher Education: Students’ Understanding and Experiences». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 31, n.° 3 (2019), p. 559-576.
Miah, Shamim. «School desegregation and the politics of ‘forced integration’». Race & Class, vol. 54, n.° 2 (2012), p. 26-38.
Morgades-Bamba, Clara Isabel; Raynal, Patrick y Chabrol, Henri. «Exploring the Radicalization Process in Young Women». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 32, n.° 7 (2020), p. 1.439-1.457.
Mott, Gareth. «A Storm on the Horizon? “Twister” and the Implications of the Blockchain and Peer-to-Peer Social Networks for Online Violent Extremism». Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 42, n.° 1-2 (2019), p. 206-227.
Mythen, Gabe; Walklate, Sandra y Khan, Fatima. « “I’m a Muslim, but I’m not a Terrorist”: Victimization, Risky Identities and the Performance of Safety». British Journal of Criminology, vol. 49, n.° 6 (2019), p. 736-754.
Mythen, Gabe; Walklate, Sandra y Peatfield, Elizabeth-Jane. «Assembling and deconstructing radicalisation in PREVENT: A case of policy-based evidence making?». Critical Social Policy, vol. 37, n.° 2 (2017), p. 180-201.
Neumann, Peter. «The trouble with radicalization». International Affairs, vol. 89, n.° 4 (2013), p. 873-893.
O’Donnell, Aislinn. «Securitisation, Counterterrorism and the Silencing of Dissent: The Educational Implications of Prevent». British Journal of Educational Studies, vol. 64, n.° 1 (2016), p. 53-76.
O’Donnell, Aislinn. «Pedagogical injustice and counter-terrorist education». Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 2 (2017), p. 177-193.
Onursal, Recep y Kirkpatrick, Daniel. «Is Extremism the ‘New’ Terrorism? the Convergence of ‘Extremism’ and ‘Terrorism’ in British Parliamentary Discourse». Terrorism and Political Violence, (2019), p. 1-23.
Pantucci, Raffaello. «A contest to democracy? How the UK has responded to the current terrorist threat». Democratization, vol. 17, n.° 2 (2010), p. 251-271.
Parker, David; Lindekilde, Lasse y Gøtzsche‐astrup, Oluf. «Recognising and responding to radicalisation at the ‘frontline’: Assessing the capability of school teachers to recognise and respond to radicalisation». British Educational Research Journal, (2020) (en línea) https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3677
Pettinger, Tom. «British terrorism preemption: Subjectivity and disjuncture in Channel “de-radicalization” interventions». The British Journal of Sociology, vol. 71, (2020a), p. 970-984.
Pettinger, Tom. «CTS and normativity: the essentials of preemptive counter-terrorism interventions». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 13, n.° 1 (2020b), p. 118-141.
Piasecka, Shelley. «Performing PREVENT: anti-extremist theatre-in-education in the service of UK counter-terrorism, a Freirean analysis». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 12, n.° 4 (2019), p. 715-734.
Puigvert, Lídia; Aiello, Emilia; Oliver, Esther y Ramis-Salas, Mimar. «Grassroots community actors leading the way in the prevention of youth violent radicalization». PLoS ONE, vol. 15, n.° 10 (2020), p. 1-29.
Qureshi, Asim. «PREVENT: creating “radicals” to strengthen anti-Muslim narratives». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 8, n.° 1 (2015), p. 181-191.
Ragazzi, Francesco. «Suspect community or suspect category? The impact of counter-terrorism as ‘policed multiculturalism’». Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 4, n.° 5 (2016), p. 724-741.
Ramsay, Peter. «Is Prevent a safe space?». Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 2 (2017), p. 143-158.
Rashid, Naaz. Veiled threats: Representing the Muslim woman in public policy discourses. Bristol: Policy Press, 2016.
Richards, Anthony. «From terrorism to ‘radicalization’ to ‘extremism’: counterterrorism imperative or loss of focus?». International Affairs, vol. 91, n.° 2 (2015), p. 371-380.
Schmid, Alex. «Radicalisation, De-radicalisation and counter-radicalisation: a conceptual discussion and literature review». International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague, Research Paper, (marzo de 2013) (en línea) [Fecha de consulta: 14.04.2021] http://www.icct.nl/app/uploads/download/file/ICCT-Schmid-Radicalisation-De-Radicalisation-Counter-Radicalisation-March-2013.pdf
Schmid, Alex. «Violent and Non-Violent Extremism: Two sides of the same coin? ». International Centre for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague, Research Paper, (mayo de 2014) (en línea) [Fecha de consulta: 14.04.2021] https://www.icct.nl/download/file/ICCT-Schmid-Violent-Non-Violent-Extremism-May-2014.pdf
Scott-Baumann, Alison. «Ideology, utopia and Islam on campus: How to free speech a little from its own terrors». Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 2 (2017), p. 159-176.
Silverman, Tanya. «U.K. Foreign Fighters to Syria and Iraq: The Need for a Real Community Engagement Approach». Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 40, n.° 12 (2017), p. 1.091-1.107.
Sjøen, Martin y Mattson, Christer. «Preventing radicalisation in Norwegian schools: how teachers respond to counter-radicalisation efforts». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 13, n.° 2 (2020), p. 218-236.
Skoczylis, Joshua y Andrews, Sam. «A conceptual critique of Prevent: Can Prevent be saved? No, but…». Critical Social Policy, vol. 40, n.° 3 (2020), p. 350-369.
Spalek, Basia y Weeks, Douglas. «The Role of Communities in Counterterrorism: Analyzing Policy and Exploring Psychotherapeutic Approaches within Community Settings». Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 40, n.° 12 (2017), p. 991-1.003.
Spiller, Keith; Awan, Imran y Whiting, Anrew. «‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 11, n.° 1 (2018), p. 130-150.
Stephens, William. y Sieckelinck, Stijn. «Being resilient to radicalisation in PEV policy: a critical examination». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 13, n.° 1 (2020), p. 142-165.
Stevens, David. «Reasons to be Fearful, One, Two, Three: The ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ Agenda». The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 13, n.° 2 (2011), p. 165-188.
Sukarieh, Mayssoun. y Tannock, Stuart «The deradicalisation of education: terror, youth and the assault on learning». Race & Class, vol. 57, n.° 4 (2016), p. 22-38.
Taylor, Joeal. «‘Suspect Categories,’ Alienation and Counterterrorism: Critically Assessing PREVENT in the UK». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 32, n.° 4 (2020), p. 851-873.
Thomas, Paul. «Between Two Stools? The Government’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism’ Agenda». The Political Quarterly, vol. 80, n.° 2 (2009), p. 282-291.
Thomas, Paul; Grossmann, Michele; Christmann, Kris y Miah, Shamim. «Community reporting on violent extremism by “intimates”: emergent findings from international evidence». Critical Studies on Terrorism, vol. 13, n.° 4 (2020), p. 638-659.
Trujillo, Humberto; Jordán, Javier; Gutiérrez, José y Gónzalez-Cabrera, Joaquín. «Radicalization in Prisons? Field Research in 25 Spanish Prisons». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 21, n.° 4 (2009), p. 558-579.
Van de Weer, Annemarie y Eijkman, Quirine. «Subjectivity in detection of radicalisation and violent extremism: a youth worker’s perspective». Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, vol. 11, n.° 3 (2019), p. 191-214.
Van de Weert, Annemarie y Eijkman, Quirine. «Early detection of extremism? The local security professional on assessment of potential threats posed by youth». Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 73, n.° 5 (2020), p. 491-507.
Vermeulen, Floris. «Suspect Communities–Targeting Violent Extremism at the Local Level: Policies of Engagement in Amsterdam, Berlin, and London». Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 26, n.° 2 (2014), p. 286-306.
Webber, Frances. «The inversion of accountability». Race & Class, vol. 58, n.° 2 (2016), p. 55-63.
Wolton, Suke. «The contradiction in the Prevent Duty: Democracy vs ‘British values»’. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, vol. 12, n.° 2 (2017), p. 123-142.
Younis, Tarek. «The psychologisation of counter-extremism: unpacking PREVENT». Race & Class, vol. 62, n.° 3 (2020), p. 37-60.