Community-Focused Counter-Radicalization and Counter-Terrorism Projects

Experiences and Lessons Learned

Kawser Ahmed; Patrick Belanger and Susan Szmania

Following the launch of the global war on terror, western nations commissioned multiple community focused projects aimed at preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism. With an understanding that a comprehensive approach entails both proactive counter-radicalization measures and rehabilitation initiatives, these community-based projects typically aim to build resilience and enhance prevention capacity within specific communities. This book focuses on the perceptions and experiences of twenty-nine community-based counter-radicalization project leaders in eight western countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Scotland, and France. By closely examining these efforts across multiple national contexts and in diverse communities, this book examines the challenges and opportunities of community-focused projects as identified by such projects’ leaders. At the book’s heart are interviews about community engagement and experience from the people most closely attuned to this vital work. By highlighting the importance of listening to community members, the book offers a rare chance to directly hear community members’ ideas, frustrations, and hopes.

Lexington Books

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅛

978-1-4985-5776-4 • Hardback • October 2018 • $99.00 • (£76.00)

978-1-4985-5777-1 • eBook • October 2018 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

Community-Focused Counter-Radicalization and Counter-Terrorism Projects

Experiences and Lessons Learned

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Following the launch of the global war on terror, western nations commissioned multiple community focused projects aimed at preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism. With an understanding that a comprehensive approach entails both proactive counter-radicalization measures and rehabilitation initiatives, these community-based projects typically aim to build resilience and enhance prevention capacity within specific communities. This book focuses on the perceptions and experiences of twenty-nine community-based counter-radicalization project leaders in eight western countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium, Scotland, and France. By closely examining these efforts across multiple national contexts and in diverse communities, this book examines the challenges and opportunities of community-focused projects as identified by such projects’ leaders. At the book’s heart are interviews about community engagement and experience from the people most closely attuned to this vital work. By highlighting the importance of listening to community members, the book offers a rare chance to directly hear community members’ ideas, frustrations, and hopes.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 132 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅛

978-1-4985-5776-4 • Hardback • October 2018 • $99.00 • (£76.00)

978-1-4985-5777-1 • eBook • October 2018 • $94.00 • (£72.00)

Subjects: Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies

Author

Kawser Ahmed is research fellow at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba.
Patrick Belanger is associate professor of humanities and communication at California State University, Monterey Bay.
Susan Szmania is research associate at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter One: Community Projects and Collaborations
Chapter Two: What Drives Radicalization? Perspectives from the Field
Chapter Three: Challenges of Community-Based Projects
Chapter Four: Community Resilience
Chapter Five: Toward a “Complex-Adaptive” Model
References
Index
About the Authors

Reviews

In providing a thorough, critical analysis of twenty nine community focused projects, the authors make a valuable and significant contribution to our understanding of approaches to counter radicalization and terrorism. This analysis is particularly useful as a springboard for scholars, students undertaking future research in this area, and for policy-makers considering future initiatives.
— James Fergusson, University of Manitoba