The Role of Civil Society in Political Repression: The UK Prevent Counter-Terrorism Programme

Abstract

Research on social movements shows a bias towards movements that oppose the status quo. Consequently, state–movement relations are primarily characterised as antagonistic. Where cooperative relationships are considered, the focus is on co-option and institutionalisation of movements. By contrast, this article focuses on social movements that support the status quo and how in their collaborations with governmental actors, they act as para-statal agencies. Drawing on findings from a multi-site ethnography examining the implementation of the UK Prevent counter-terrorism programme, I show how neoconservative think tanks and counter-extremism civil society organisations help to enact and extend Prevent as a distinct form of political repression. As such, this article gives close attention to the otherwise neglected role that non-state actors play in non-violent political repression. My argument builds on and extends emerging work analysing social movement activity beyond the prism of the ‘challengers versus authorities’ paradigm.

Teaching Activist Criminology in the Neoliberal University

“…The report goes on to state that some of these universities now have a dedicated police officer to advise them on these matters. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act of 2015 established the "Prevent Duty" (Massoumi, 2021) which included law enforcement advisement, risk assessments of speakers and monitoring. Massoumi (2021) has described PREVENT as an exercise in "channelling" where certain Muslim religious charities are positioned as mainstream largely due to their lack of opposition to Western military intervention in predominantly Muslim countries.…”

Prevent, Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus: Analysing Terrorism Prevention Policies Using Althusser’s Framework

“…The Radical Middle Way roadshows, which sought to promote moderate Islamic theology, and the #MakingAStand campaign seeking out British Muslim women to publicly denounce ISIS, are illustrative of this. 134 These campaigns called out to Muslims in Britain with an acceptable subjectivity, a way of demonstrating that they truly are "one of us". Likewise, the Prevent Tragedies campaign, and many similar campaigns targeting mothers, called out with a "good mother" subjectivity.…”

Different Types, Different Reactions? How Civil Society Organizations Respond to Right-Wing Extremism

“…Finally, the article shines light on how CSOs perceive their role when it comes to responding to right-wing extremism compared to societal actors within the state, the media, and the private sector. A more detailed understanding of how various types of CSOs perceive their role, interest, and willingness when it comes to responding to political extremism could, for example, enable a more fine-tuned strategy for how government implements the role of civil society when formulating policy (Gielen, 2019;Massoumi, 2021).…”