The hateful other: neo-Nazis in school and teachers’ strategies for handling racism

Abstract

Research has shown that a young person's situation at school, and pupils' relationships with their teachers, have a clear impact on the processes which lead to young people being radicalized. The present study is a retrospective study based on interviews with former neo-Nazis and their teachers at the time when they became involved in neo-Nazi organizations or milieus in Sweden. In order to better understand the logics of pedagogy and what their teachers' decisions to intervene and to confront their extremist beliefs and lifestyles led to, we focus on a particular case study. The results show that teachers' attempts to isolate these students, and thereby contain the "problem", failed. Confrontations and strategies designed to discipline the students instead led to resistance and stigmatization. Reflecting upon this situation today, both students and teachers agree that these confrontational strategies fueled the radicalization process.

How to counteract racism in education – A typology of teachers’ anti-racist actions

“…They seek to affect students who express racist values and beliefs (cf. Arneback and Englund 2020;Mattsson and Johansson 2020). In our view, however, it is important to also treat them as anti-racist actions.…”

“…In doing so, teachers try to prevent the development of individual expressions of racism as well as assist those who are the targets of racist acts. This relates to research that highlights the importance of positive relations and the need for recognition when working with students who experience social exclusion (Mattsson and Johansson 2020;Noddings 2005). In order to be open to others, students must have a positive sense of self.…”

Safe Space, Dangerous Territory: Young People’s Views on Preventing Radicalization through Education—Perspectives for Pre-Service Teacher Education

“…According to studies, identification and reporting duties seem to have increased the prejudices and stigmatisation concerning students from certain ethnicities and religious groups [50,69]. In some cases, false alarms from school have led to further investigations and interrogations by the authorities, which create stigma and a psychological burden for the student in question [70,71].…”

Threshold of Adversity: Resilience and the Prevention of Extremism Through Education

“…However, numerous studies highlight teachers' puzzlement about these suggested duties or responsibilities regarding the prevention of radicalization (Parker, Lindekilde & Gøtzsche-Astrup, 2020;Mattsson & Johansson, 2020;Ragazzi, 2017;van San, Sieckelinck & de Winter, 2013). Many questions remain open especially regarding the objectives and pedagogical implementation of such responsibilities, which, together with the vague definitions of the key concepts, make tackling this mission challenging (Sjøen & Mattsson, 2020;Mattsson & Säljö, 2017;Ragazzi, 2017;Grossman et al, 2017;Christodoulou, 2020).…”