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After 9/11, the academic study of terrorism flourished as more government resources were focused on counterterrorism efforts. As the focus slowly shifted towards P/CVE or Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, more and more articles lauded the potential benefits of including Formers. The idea behind that was that experience equals expertise. Formers have been valuable data sources as research participants. However, the current trend has seen Formers leave that role and take on far more complicated and sophisticated roles, such as deradicalization experts, claiming to help people leave extremism. This policy paper focuses on the evidence, specifically the lack of evidence, to support the prevailing assumptions regarding the effectiveness of Formers and dissects the ethical issues arising from their involvement in P/CVE. The paper ends with policy recommendations to shift P/CVE activities and research toward a more empirically-grounded model. Since P/CVE initiatives involve a variety of actors, from academic researchers to the media to practitioners, this paper is not aimed at one field or profession. Rather, it is intended for everyone involved in P/CVE-related activities, including research.

The EU Member States are characterised by long and varied institutional history, with different trajectories in their evolution. There is a complex system of relations between the institutions of the European Union and the authorities of the Member States, which are called as the European Administrative Space. This is a multidimensional concept, and it promotes intensive cooperation between administrative actors, and their activities from each level. The European Administrative Space is the area, in which increasingly integrated administrations jointly exercise power delegated to the EU in a system of shared sovereignty. This article explores the reasons for and the consequences of this development.

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Copyright of Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) is the property of Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the level of trust among Muslims in Australia towards the Government and its institutions. It places particular emphasis on the government’s approach to countering violent extremism programs and examines whether a lack of trust negatively impacts cooperation and engagement with the government and P/CVE programs. There is limited research exploring the issue of trust from the perspective of Muslims and how this impacts cooperation and engagement with the government. A survey of Australian Muslims (N= 505) that incorporated both quantitative and qualitative components was used. Inferential statistics (correlations) and thematic analysis were utilised to assess the data. Research suggests that trust is crucial to assisting in the success of P/CVE programs and counter-terrorism efforts. The findings show high levels of distrust towards the government and its institutions, which has flow-on effects, particularly in countering violent extremism. This strongly suggests that P/CVE programs should be approached from a trust-based and relationship-building perspective. Recommendations are made at the end of this paper on how to engage the Muslim community on the basis of building trust and meaningful relationships.

Research on far-right extremism has grown substantially over the last decade, owing to the rise of Trump, attacks such as the one in Christchurch and Buffalo, as well as the mainstreaming of hate speech and polarization. In addition to research, there have been antifascist activists who have been engaged in doxxing members of the far right who are part of our schools, our militaries, and governments. Releasing the private information of members of far-right movements to the public has created interesting policy and law enforcement dilemmas. With respect to law enforcement, can doxxing be used as a tool to force individuals to disengage from groups? For social media companies, doxxing violates their terms of service, but should an exception be made in these instances since it purportedly serves a public interest? For this paper, we interviewed 10 former members of the far right who have experienced doxxing over the last several years. The paper explores what happened, the immediate and long-term effects of doxxing on their lives, and ongoing challenges of being exposed against their will. We conclude with some policy recommendations related to the costs and benefits of doxxing on these individuals but also society at large.

Recent debates about aesthetics are characterized by a partly intentional, but also partly involuntary, vagueness. Whether it be aestheticisation or anesthetisation, articisation or desartification: what is upheld or deplored under one and the same label in fact designates rather different things. The paper makes a suggestion as to how the field could be reorganized. Taking heed of what political theory discusses as the "political difference" between "politics" and "the political", the aim is to examine what would be gained by working with an "aesthetic difference" that does not straightforwardly equate "the aesthetic" with "art", and "the aesthetic" with the totality of sensuous-aisthetic processes. An aesthetic thinking would then amount to a thinking that does justice to these inner polarities and remains faithful to the ambiguity of its objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) field is evolving in Canada, with CVE teams offering psychosocial disengagement interventions in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec. This article is written as a case study to detail the evolution of the city of Toronto’s CVE program, called Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), housed in the community mental health centre Yorktown Family Services (“Yorktown”). Toronto – the largest Canadian city, provincial capital of Ontario, and one of the most multicultural cities in the world – has seen several high-profile cases of violent extremism and terrorism over the past few years. For example, there were two “Incel” attacks that together killed eleven people, including nine women, in 2018 and 2020. In 2022, hate crime occurrences reported to the Toronto Police Service were 74% higher than pre-pandemic levels, and 40% higher than the 10-year average. Clearly, there was a need for a structured and multi-sectoral response which led to the inception of ETA in 2020. Against this backdrop, this paper outlines ETA’s program components and operational design. Various data points such as client age range, ideological affiliation, and services rendered are provided to demonstrate trends for the period of April 2022 to March 2023. As this paper will demonstrate, ETA’s services are grounded in engagement, outreach, case management (multi-agency service delivery), psychotherapy, religious counselling, peer support and forensic consultation, which is reflected in the evolving CVE literature and evidence-base.

In the domain of PVE as well as reintegration, the most interesting studies are arguably based on material collected first-hand from the individuals involved in the phenomenon of political violence or terrorism. As more individuals from the 2013-2016 wave of foreign terrorist fighters are exiting the criminal justice system, young individuals with no memory of that period are sympathizing with ISIS and others again are joining right-wing groups with violent agendas. Understanding the motives behind such engagement will always lead a portion of the scholars to pursue interview-based studies. This paper describes the research protocol used for a study which dealt with politico-ideological mobilization and violence in relation to causes and conflicts in the Arab World. More than one hundred interviews were conducted in Lebanon, Switzerland and Canada with individuals involved in politico-ideological mobilization or violence of different ideological orientations. Besides interviews, complementary material in the form of ethnographic fieldnotes and voice recordings via instant messaging were collected. The data was compiled into a MAXQDA database and coded according to the principles of Grounded Theory, using open, selective, axial and theoretical coding. The paper further discusses epistemological and ethical considerations.

Der Beitrag diskutiert die beiden Verbundkataloge Argentiniens, UNIRED 30A und den Konkurrenzkatalog SIUBDU. Der UNIRED 30A integriert die Bibliotheksbestände von 109 Institutionen, darunter den wichtigsten Regierungsinstitutionen, Ministerialbibliotheken, Think-Tanks, Universitäten des Landes, Banken, Institutionen der lateinamerikanischen Wissenschaftsintegration wie FLACSO, CLACSO, INTAL und die Fundación Bariloche. Der SIUBDU integriert die Bestände von 56 Institutionen, darunter CLACSO und FLACSO und führende Universitäten des Landes aus allen Regionen. Um die Katalogentwicklung der in den beiden Bibliotheksverbunden integrierten wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken zu testen, analysierte der Autor die Präsenz der Gewinner*innen des Skytte-Preises der internationalen Politikwissenschaft für die Jahre 2021, 2022 und 2023 in diesen Verbundkatalogen. Die Analyse zeigt, dass selbst bei sehr renommierten internationalen Politikwissenschaftler*innen ihre Bibliothekspräsenz in Lateinamerika äußerst gering ist und sich im Wesentlichen vor allem auf Werke bezieht, die von Ihnen in spanischer Sprache geschrieben wurden oder übersetzt worden sind. The paper introduces Argentina's union catalogues, UNIRED 30A and the rival catalogue SIUBDU. UNIRED 30A integrates the library collections of 109 institutions, including major government institutions, ministerial libraries, thinktanks, national universities, banks, Latin American science integration institutions such as FLACSO, CLACSO, INTAL and the Fundación Bariloche. The SIUBDU integrates the collections of 56 institutions, including CLACSO and FLACSO as well as leading universities in the country. To test the catalogue development of the academic libraries integrated in the two library networks, the author analysed the presence of the Skytte Prize laureates in political science in the years 2021, 2022 and 2023 in these union catalogues. Findings show that even for prestigious international political scientists, library presence in Latin America is extremely poor and refers chiefly to work written by them in Spanish or works translated into Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social mobilisation theory (SMT) remains an underutilised lens in examining how religion can be central to radicalisation processes. This paper provides a novel application of SMT to better appreciate the role played by religious ideologues in mobilising individuals to Salafi-jihadist violence through appeals to group and individual benefits. It also considers the implications for preventing and countering violent extremist efforts. The paper conducts a comprehensive thematic analysis of the messaging of the Salafi-jihadist preacher Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, who was highly influential in the mobilisation of mujahideen foreign fighters to Afghanistan following the 1979 Soviet invasion. Through the structured thematic analysis of 38 of his texts in English translation, a set of key religious themes are identified and mapped. The application of SMT to these themes demonstrates that while Azzam clearly employed religious views in his highly successful propaganda, he also drew on stories of the miraculous, a concept difficult to analyse using SMT. An appreciation of the role that religious ideologues can play in influencing violent extremism has implications for preventing and countering violent extremism practitioners. These include the need for a more nuanced understanding of the specific narratives used by ideologues in appealing to group benefits, and a greater appreciation of the irrational aspects of violent extremist narratives.

Based on an international corpus of children and young adult fiction, I would like to explore the question of how 'the political' is articulated in these texts and what role dreams play for the discussion of political ideas. Dream narratives blur the boundary between reality and fiction and thus create a virtual space in which the young protagonists can experience themselves. Since modernity, children and young adult literature is supposed to address the process of personality development of both, the juvenile heroes and readers. On closer inspection, however, one realises that the articulation of personal dilemmas is often linked to social and political issues. This paper thus aims to investigate the interaction of the political and the personal, which places the ethical moment at the centre of political discourse, within the fictional dream worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper describes the development of a programme theory for a football-based radicalisation prevention programme. As part of the Belgian Red Courts programme, an initiative of the Belgian Football Association in cooperation with the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the Hannah-Arendt Institute, a literature review was conducted that links current research on preventing radicalisation with findings from the field of Sport for Development research. The Belgian Football Association is building and renovating 40 mini-football pitches in Belgium, providing sports infrastructure as well as a theory-based football programme to prevent radicalisation and promote social cohesion, and training of coaches to implement the programme. Starting in September 2023, the implementation of the trainings will start in 10 locations, which will be accompanied and evaluated within the framework of a PhD. In 2024, a further 10 locations will be implemented and evaluated. The paper aims to develop and describe a programme theory as the basis of a football curriculum for young people aged 14-18. The central mechanism for the prevention of radicalisation is Daniel Koehler's (2017) theory of re-pluralisation. In the course of the literature review, concrete contents and competences were identified that are considered to prevent radicalisation and at the same time work towards re-pluralisation of the target group in the course of the programme theory. This research aims to contribute to a larger body of scientific literature on the use of sport as an instrument in the prevention of radicalisation but also to develop a theory-based and practice-oriented foundation for promising sports programmes. With the completion of the research, the project will provide empirical evidence about the effect and possibly also the programme's sustainability.

This paper presents the findings of an assessment of a government-run deradicalization program called Operation Safe Corridor (OPSC) in northeast Nigeria. OPSC is a restricted custodial program through which 900 ex-combatants have passed since 2015. The major aim of OPSC is the deradicalization, rehabilitation, and reintegration of repentant ex-combatants in the war-ravaged zone. Using a qualitative research framework, primary data were collected through Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with stakeholders across Borno, Adamawa, and Gombe, Nigeria. Using purposive sampling, a sample of 122 was drawn from the population of the study. which includes ex-combatants in holding, graduates of the OPSC, staff of the OPSC, community members, government officials, and representatives from the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). A total of 50 KIIs and 6 FGDs were conducted with 72 participants across the three selected states. This was supplemented by a literature review. The findings show that while the OPSC has been lauded in terms of receptivity, deradicalization, and reintegration of ex-combatants, the program is challenged by issues of credibility and acceptance in the wider community. This paper documents the challenges associated with the rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-terrorists in the context of ongoing terrorist attacks by their former group, particularly in communities that have been or continue to be affected by terrorism. It presents recommendations to address resentment and grievances in the affected communities, support community participation, and improve communications to combat popular resistance to OPSC.

How does gender identity factor into preventing violent extremism, and rehabilitating individuals involved with terrorist networks? This question is becoming increasingly visible in the literature on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) programs. However, it remains unclear how experts working on P/CVE initiatives understand the importance of gender in the context of violent extremism, and how they integrate gender-sensitive approaches in their work. By relying on the concept of gender mainstreaming, this paper aims to explore how much knowledge and understanding of gender perspectives in terrorism and violent extremism P/CVE practitioners have. Based on 10 interviews with 11 experts working on P/CVE programs, this study reveals that formal knowledge about gender perspectives in violent extremism remains relatively limited among P/CVE practitioners. On one hand, most experts intuitively realize how gender identity influences one’s participation in, and disengagement from violent extremism. Most P/CVE practitioners also recognize the need for gender equality in planning and executing their programs. However, the interviews revealed that there remain several areas of improvement. Firstly, although the interviewed P/CVE practitioners appreciate the importance of having a gender-sensitive perspective, they are not sure how these insights can help build more effective P/CVE mechanisms. Moreover, some of the P/CVE experts remain unclear on what terminology should be used to describe gender-sensitive P/CVE work. This paper argues that there is a need for greater dialogue between global security organizations, academics, and the P/CVE practitioners working on the ground, to design more effective and community-oriented preventing and countering violent extremism programs.

This paper reviews strategies and approaches aimed as assisting and rehabilitating youth who have been imprisoned for terrorist offences or identified as at risk of radicalisation, due to their behaviours and associations. The paper reports results from a review of evidence across radicalisation studies, the CVE academic and grey literature, and data collected from a small number of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), who work in youth CVE. The aim was to identify effective approaches, as well as issues and challenges that need to be considered in the design, implementation and evaluation of programs aimed at countering violent extremism (CVE) amongst youth. While it was found that evidence around youth CVE is limited in scope in relation to identifying what works, there were some consistent and overlapping findings across the sources of evidence in relation to youth intervention design and delivery. This included the importance placed on family involvement and participation in an intervention; that rapport building with youth and youth work approaches are essential when engaging radicalised youth; that interventions must be trauma informed and develop empathy and perspective taking; that interventions must be developmentally appropriate and include informal forms of engagement involving non-clinical and non-vocational/educational activities; that interventions must be transparent in how they operate and rely on multi-agency responses; that the evaluation of youth interventions need to focus on measuring a variety of cognitive and behavioural outcomes, including outcomes not necessarily related to reductions in specific offending/problematic behaviours; and that program evaluation of youth interventions need to assess change relating to psychopathology deficits and risks that have an impact on problematic behaviour.

Recent political science research has shown the increasing differentiation of the European Union (EU) and it has worked out the associated opportunities and risks for effective and legitimate politics in the EU. This raises the question to what extent politicians in the member states pay attention to differentiated integration. Based on an analysis of official government documents and parliamentary minutes from 25 member states, this article shows that this form of integration was rarely politicized in national politics between 2004 and 2020. In national parliaments, it was mainly discussed around EU-treaty changes (around 2008), the euro crisis (around 2012) or during the debate on the future of Europe (around 2017). The final part of the paper shows that differentiated integration is discussed more frequently and more positively in French politics than in German politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The contribution and influence of psychological distress to interest and involvement in extremist violence has received considerable attention in recent years. At the same time, dominant medical models for understanding such distress - typically framed as mental illness or disorder - have been challenged by emerging alternative paradigms in parts of the Western world. Understanding the contribution of psychological distress to extremist violence and how to prevent it requires consideration through these emerging paradigms and interpretative lenses. The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is one such paradigm, increasingly used by practitioners to understand and prevent psychological distress, unusual experiences, or troubled or troubling behaviour. This paper outlines its central theory and principles, investigates how these are relevant to informing our understanding of the troubling behaviour of involvement in extremist violence, and its implications for preventative practice, illustrated through an example case study. The case is made for the potential of this paradigm to support effective and ethical practice in the context of extremist violence.

Though many studies have analysed the variations in the use of violence by armed groups, an overall understanding of the phenomenon remains challenging. Building on the work addressing the role of institutions and ideology in armed group behaviour, this paper proposes a greater understanding of the role of the programmatic content of an ideology in shaping patterns of violence, specifically in terms of targeting and repertoire. The starting point of this analysis is to provide a new perspective on the meaning of political violence and address the organisational role of ideology in influencing the institutions of an armed group. To account for this, the paper does not consider the presence of an ideology but rather its strength, as a useful lens of analysis. I argue that if an ideology matters in defining a group, then the use of violence should be reflexive of its organisation. This theoretical framework is used for a micro-comparative, most-similar case study analysis of the Red Brigades and New Order militant organisations in Italy during the so-called ‘Years of Lead’. The case studies both share the presence of a strong ideological underpinning, with similar end goals and in the same context but present variations in their patterns of violence. The scope condition of the case studies is to examine whether the different patterns of violence can be explained by the variations in the programmatic nature of the ideology. Through the analysis of qualitative sources and quantitative evidence, the paper highlights the causal nexus between ideology and observed patterns of violence whereby the use of violence by armed groups represents an information and identification mechanism ideologically defined.

The weak and strong sustainable development models are analysed in this paper. The emergence of weak and strong models of sustainable development, the bases and principles that distinguish them from each other, as well as the arguments of the supporters of these approaches are studied. It is noted in this paper that, believing that there can be a smooth replacement of resources, the weak sustainability approach does not see any environmental threat to economic growth. The disadvantage of this approach is that it does not take into account the fact that human life would be unstable if the basic natural resources were depleted without any compensation. From this viewpoint, the arguments of the strong sustainability approach are considered more realistic and accepted as more attractive. A strong approach to sustainable development, which is a more cautious approach to economic growth, emphasises that sustainable development can be achieved through environmental responsibility. Ensuring environmental responsibility is presented as one of the important conditions for economic expediency and social solidarity. Strong sustainability model opposes the possibility that human capital can be replaced by natural capital. Analysing the positions of those scientists, who support strong sustainability, it is concluded that the replacement of development characterised by quantitative growth with qualitative sustainable development to increase welfare is one of the important principles of strong sustainable development.

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As the search for new ways of preventing violent extremism through education (PVE-E) continues, the question arises as to what the creative arts can offer. This paper argues that Forum Theatre inspired by Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, is a useful strengths-based approach to PVE-E. By allowing students to intervene and change the plot in a re-run of a play on radicalisation, Forum Theatre supports students in understanding the complexity of radicalisation and reflecting on protective factors as well as intervention possibilities. It offers opportunities to take on different perspectives and experiment with, question and explore the consequences of behavioural decisions in certain contexts. However, there are some conditions for Forum Theatre to fully exploit its potential for PVE-E. Among others, the creative intervention requires a safe environment where students’ learning is not impaired by self-censorship. It should also be noted that while Forum Theatre can empower students to take preventative action themselves, its sole purpose should not be to turn students into prevention actors. Adequate training for teachers and external artistic professionals as well as preparation and follow-up for students are also indispensable. Now, it is time to expand the evidence base for such a participatory education method to assess whether it lives up to the theoretical expectations and whether such conditions are met in practice.

Abstract The paper deals with a challenging issue of cooperation between civic organizations in Europe that are engaged in anti-extremist activities. The author defines and conceptualizes transnational cooperation of civic society against extremism, briefly outlines the historical development of transnational non-governmental anti-extremist cooperation in Europe, analyses contemporary pan-European anti-extremist networks in Europe, and selects other forms of anti-extremist cooperation in Europe. The case study is dedicated to the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Radicalization of women within far-right extremist networks is a timely issue. Evidence suggests women’s participation in terrorist activity is likely to grow in the next few years, as extremists continue to find new ways to recruit women. Women’s involvement in far-right extremist networks is greater than frequently thought, yet the underlying radicalization pathways are often understudied. At times, radicalization pathways of women are stereotyped; or women are dismissed due to the perceived complexity of understanding their support for extreme misogynistic networks. Exploring these radicalization pathways is important in understanding deradicalization and preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) practices. Existing research often regards radicalized women as anomalies, deviating from traditional gender norms, meaning policy considerations relating to deradicalization are still based on outdated stereotypes. Far-right extremism is one of the most significant domestic threats currently facing the United States. Leveraging the extant literature on gender and radicalization, this paper provides an overview of women’s presence and radicalization pathways within the contemporary American far right. I present case studies of two women, who have participated in contemporary American far-right extremist networks, providing an in-depth content analysis of their personal social media accounts and secondary sources. I find that these women are motivated by, and radicalized through, perceived threats to their status. Such threats need not be real and can be derived from real political and cultural events, or conspiracy theories. I conclude by arguing that this evidence provides avenues for our understanding of deradicalization pathways.

With the recent surge in the number of countries willing to repatriate and reintegrate their citizens from camps in Iraq and Syria, policymakers and practitioners around the world are revisiting their approaches to the management of foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) returnees and their families. FTF management policy and practice has significantly evolved in the last decade driven by a growing body of empirical research and a greater awareness of best practices. Despite these advancements, the role of strategic communications in FTF repatriation and reintegration is too-often absent or, at best, underappreciated, by scholars, policymakers, and practitioners alike. Yet, interviews with policymakers and practitioners in this field reveals that they are often directly (e.g. as spokespeople) and/or indirectly (e.g. advising to public figures) engaged in public messaging. Without appropriate policy cover and practical guidance, public messaging risks becoming an inadvertent amplifier of policy missteps, public misunderstandings, and malign influence activities. This policy paper argues for an approach to strategic communication in FTF management that is multidimensional, integrated, adaptable, and crosscutting. To these ends, it offers a framework of guiding principles for strategic communication in FTF management that is relevant for both policymakers in government and practitioners in non-government roles.

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Both rational choice theory and biopolitics are extremely important paradigms in the social sciences - including political science. It would seem that their basic axioms contradict each other because the influence of biopolitical power microstructures excludes sovereign and autonomous decision-making processes. Thus, the paper adopts the hypothesis that the assumptions of biopolitics falsify the basic axioms of rational choice theory, and therefore we can consider it as the antithesis of rational choice theory. In order to verify the hypothesis, the method of content analysis was applied - with particular emphasis on studies concerning both paradigms and primary sources supported by elements of comparative studies. On the basis of the analyses carried out, it was proved that the assumptions of both paradigms do not have to contradict each other - they may even be complementary. Human actions based on the principle of rationality and self-interest can be justified by the actions of biopolitics, and therefore the hypothesis has been falsified.

By analyzing the encounters at the borders between the Kingdom of Castile and Granada, and those on the Canary Islands, this paper delves into the dynamics of slavery and captivity practiced by Christians, Muslims, and the Indigenous inhabitants of the Canarias archipelago between the 15th and 16th centuries. Legal and judicial documents from this period show how common human trafficking was in the peripheries of the Spanish dominions even before the overseas expansion. This activity often included revolts, horseback raids, robberies, death, the capture and enslavement of people, and other notions such as slavery under ›just war‹, which sometimes blurred the margins between slavery and captivity. Whether at sea or on land, life in the frontier was a difficult one, with people exposed to many dangers. Furthermore, these local practices had global significance once the Spanish Empire expanded its frontiers to America and beyond.

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P/CVE programs engaging in primary (prior to radicalization) or secondary (following exposure to radicalizing influences) prevention are often predicated on delivering interventions to individuals or groups at-risk of engaging in violent extremism. Preventative actions must take place before the potential negative outcome; however, additional research is still required to identify and empirically validate the factors that distinguish violent from non-violent extremists. In the interim, P/CVE programs have instead targeted all individuals within a community or those deemed “at-risk” of adhering to extremist belief systems or movements. Due to resource limitations, this approach dilutes the allocation of resources to individuals and/or communities with higher propensities for extremist violence and may incidentally increase the likelihood of violence. This paper argues that empirical and theoretical insights from criminological theories of social control can enhance the understanding of violent extremism and can be used to tailor P/CVE programs. Unlike most criminological theories, social control theories focus on why people do not commit these acts, giving it a unique perspective on identifying how to prevent violent extremism. Drawing on 70 years of research, we explore how variation in various forms of control can explain differences in extremist offending. We hypothesize how the antecedents to low social control may be connected to violent extremism and propose a research agenda to test these hypotheses. Finally, we examine how existing measures of self-control can be incorporated by P/CVE programming to better distribute services to their target population and reduce the risk of adverse outcomes.

Islamist extremists are a group that pose a particular threat not only due to their proneness to violence but also because they recruit transnationally, utilizing freely accessible social media platforms such as Instagram. One of their key target groups is adolescents, a group that is particularly vulnerable and in need for orientation due to a variety of life-stage-specific challenges. As a result, adolescents are particularly susceptible to external influences on platforms such as Instagram. Recognizing this, Islamist extremists focus their strategic communication on adolescents, using a variety of strategies for both their messaging and the format of their content on Instagram to make it appealing to this group. To protect adolescents, the importance of extremism-related (media) knowledge is emphasized. However, the transfer of knowledge to action is not without preconditions. This paper is based on semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescents in Germany and examines how they apply their knowledge on Islamist extremism when using Instagram and whether, and why, a break between knowledge and action occurs. The study reveals several individual, situational, and message factors that interfere with the process and deter adolescents from applying their knowledge and protecting themselves.

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This paper presents brief results of the analysis of educational potential dynamics and its relation with development of regional labour markets. The educational potential is described by the structure of the economically active population with different levels of education. The aim of the research was to study the impact of the educational potential of the economically active population on the development of regional markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Authors used for research the Eurostat data for the NUTS2 regions of the following CEE countries: Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Analysis of the distribution of educational potential of the economically active population of these CEE countries at the regional level was carried out using the methods of spatial econometrics and statistics. Research results demonstrated: insufficient response of local markets to changes in the structure of educational potential and the level of investment in fixed assets; strong state regulation of the unemployment rate in the former post-socialist countries (Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia); complex relationships between labour productivity growth rates, average wages, changes in educational potential and unemployment rates; significant influence of the surrounding regional environment on the socio-economic processes taking place in certain regions.

Abstract Based on a protest survey conducted in October 2021, this paper will have a close look at a Corona protest organized by the Polish antivaccination movement. The focus of interest is the question of who joins such an event and why. In doing so, the data paint a picture of protesters who place their individual rights above pandemic-related restrictions. The attitude felt by many in this movement is one of disdain for the danger posed by the virus, which stems from a greater distrust towards established institutions and, not least, finds expression by a strong approval of Corona- related conspiracy narratives.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a threat to health, economic stability and collective functioning. The related upsurge in psychological distress has fuelled the emergence of conspiracy theories regarding the origins of the virus. Worldwide, there is mounting evidence that these narratives have increased stigma and discrimination against diverse ethnic, age and occupational groups. However, the role of gender in the dynamics weaving together psychological distress, conspiracy theories and legitimation of violence toward other groups is still unknown. This paper addresses this knowledge gap, analysing a Canadian interprovincial survey conducted in November 2020. In total, 6003 individuals aged 18-35 years residing in large Canadian cities responded to an online survey administered in English and French between October 16 and November 17, 2020. A total of 4928 individuals with complete data on support for violent radicalization (VR), psychological distress, and endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories were included in the analysis. This study indicates that for young Canadian adults, gender, endorsement of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and psychological distress, as measured by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), have an interaction effect on support for VR, as measured by both the Sympathy for Violent Radicalization Scale (SyfoR) and the Radicalism Intention Scale (RIS) (both p-values

Religious fundamentalists have a common fear that modernity, digital mass media, and popular culture may corrupt young adults and undermine sacred values and moral codes. However, some young adults do not abandon their religion; conversely, they submit to fundamentalist religious authority and are willing to become martyrs. This paper seeks to provide a theoretical understanding of the relationship between religious fundamentalism and Gen Y and Gen Z’s search for meaning in the digital media ecology. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the theoretical perspectives of religious fundamentalism, imagined communities, sacred values, terror-management-theory and digital media theories to generate new insights on countering online radicalization. However rather than recommending more online counterpropaganda dampening violent extremism targeting communities, this article builds on the view that an integrated approach on digital citizenship, off-line interfaith communication, and religious face-to-face encounters with ‘the other’ to share sacred and secular values in the pedagogical environment will help understand the social reality of ‘the other’ and can offer effective insights to prevent home-grown extremism, social insularity and reduce in-group biases at an early age.

The article is a working paper from the project ›Non-state law of the economy. The normative order of industrial relations in the metal industry from the Empire to the early years of the Federal Republic of Germany‹, undertaken at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt am Main (mpilhlt). A key part of the project is the creation of a digital edition of primary sources that reflects the diversity of norms and regulations in factories of the metal industry in the 19th and 20th centuries. The article illustrates the multiplicity of these normative arrangements by looking at work regulations (Arbeitsordnungen) and explains their importance for the history of labour law as well as the theoretical links to the research of the mpilhlt. Using the regulation of working hours as an example and selecting specific keywords – including the regulation of work breaks, of smoking and of child labour, and the introduction of measures to monitor individual working time – the article demonstrates the possibilities of analysis offered by a digital source edition and discusses preliminary methodological considerations and challenges of the digital editing of legal sources.

This article investigates the role of religious institutions in the countering and prevention of violent extremism (C/PVE) in Nineveh province, Iraq. It addresses a major gap in the literature that offers largely descriptive accounts of C/PVE policies, without considering the different stakeholders involved in their implementation and the complex network of relationships among them. The actions and legitimacy of religious institutions are analysed against the background of the post-2003 Iraqi state apparatus. The hybridity of the new political system of the second republic (2005-present) justifies the focus on the initiatives of both formal and informal religious institutions towards key C/PVE sectors such as education and peace-building. Building on 59 interviews conducted in Hamdaniyyah and Tel Afar four years after the official victory over the Islamic State, this paper introduces new data and innovative insights into the relationships between religious institutions, state apparatus and civil society. The findings suggest that i) while the legitimacy of religious institutions is contested across Nineveh province, there is a consensus on the need for these institutions to be involved in C/PVE; ii) interactions between religious institutions, political systems, and civil society have increased but remain limited; and iii) the fragmentation of the state apparatus is reflected in uncoordinated and unregulated C/PVE strategies. The importance of religious institutions in fostering community resilience to violent extremism in Nineveh province should not overlook the need for a transversal and inclusive approach to healing the scars left by two decades of rampant conflicts.

This study analyzes the interplay of factors which drive states’ approaches to the repatriation and reintegration of Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) and their family members. The literature is dominated by descriptive studies of state policies that tend to explain states’ failure to repatriate and reintegrate citizens as the result of deference to governments’ national security decisions. Our study builds on these foundations to offer the scholarly and policy fields both a framework to explain why governments adopt distinct policy postures, and a means to enable these same actors to engage in more systematic analysis and development of repatriation and reintegration policy. This study argues that a balance of four considerations are crucial for explaining state behavior in this policy context: (i.) the scope of the issue, including the number of citizens considered FTFs or affiliated persons, geographic proximity, and access to the conflict, (ii.) existing legal basis for repatriation and reintegration, (iii.) instrumentalization for institution building, and (iv.) programming strategy for repatriation and reintegration. As a pilot study, this paper applies the framework to assess cases of the United States, the Netherlands, Kosovo, and Iraq. As FTF management issues are not a relic of the recent past but a persistent policy concern that warrants more nuanced and forward-looking attention, this study also considers the continued application of the framework to explore the different ways in which states may balance these four considerations in policy design and practice in the future.