Neo-liberal Governing of “Radicals”: Danish Radicalization Prevention Policies and Potential Iatrogenic Effects

The Danish government’s counter-radicalization Action Plan of 2009 had intended and unintended effects. Primarily targeting Danish Muslims, it employs neoliberal governmentality approaches of governance through individual support and response, information and knowledge, empowerment, surveillance and intervention, and anti-discrimination. It aims to prevent radicalization by transforming, shaping, and disciplining illiberal and violence-prone “radicals” into active, liberal citizens. Prolonged fieldwork and in-depth interviews with seventeen Muslims from a targeted milieu reveal skepticism about the effectiveness of the measures. Implementation of the action plan in practice may yield iatrogenic effects

Editors Introduction

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Killing in Pairs: Radicalisation Patterns of Violent Dyads

In recent years there has been an upsurge in violent attacks conducted by pairs of individuals who have undergone a shared process of radicalisation. Violent dyads remain a relatively understudied phenomenon. Using a relational approach, this article analyses the unique character of dyadic radicalisation and how it differs from instances of lone actor or group-based terrorism. It draws on a number of recent case studies, analysing instances of non-kin, fraternal, and spousal dyads. Its principal case study is a failed attack in Germany in 2006, based on a range of documentary sources as well as an interview with one of the perpetrators

Voldelig transnational aktivisme: Islamisk Stat, foreign fighters og radikalisering

Denne artikel undersøger, hvordan radikaliseringen og mobiliseringen af danske foreign fighters foregår, og hvad der motiverer unge danske muslimer til at drage i krig for en voldelig, revolutionær bevægelse som Islamisk Stat. Den offentlige danske debat om foreign fighters tegner et billede af unge, som via bestemte moskémiljøer, studiekredse i Danmark samt internettet radikaliseres til at tro, at væbnet kamp for kalifatet er en religiøs pligt. I kontrast til dette argumenterer artiklen for, at mange foreign fighters i høj grad motiveres af personlige udfordringer, fremmedgørelse og søgen efter mening med tilværelsen snarere end af dybt forankrede og reflekterede politiske og religiøse overbevisninger. I deres søgen efter et tilhørsforhold og mening kommer de unge på forskellig vis i kontakt med radikaliserende miljøer, hvor ensidig deliberation polariserer de unges holdninger. Artiklen præsenterer en interdisciplinær teoretisk model af radikalisering, hvis frugtbarhed diskuteres via analyse af illustrative casestudier af danske foreign fighters, som er rejst ud for at kæmpe for Islamisk Stat. Ved at stille skarpt på mobiliseringen af foreign fighters og tilbyde en forklarende ramme herfor, bidrager artiklen til teori om sociale bevægelser, som alt for ofte alene beskæftiger sig med mobilisering af progressive, pro-demokratiske og ikkevoldelige bevægelser. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Lasse Lindekilde and Preben Bertelsen: Violent Transnational Activism: Islamic State, Foreign Fighters and Radicalization The purpose of this article is to investigate the process of radicalization and mobilization of Danish foreign fighters, and the motivation of young Danish Muslims to go to war and fight for an ultra-violent, revolutionary movement like Islamic State. The public debate on foreign fighting in Denmark suggests that young Danish Muslims are radicalized through certain mosque milieus, study circles and the internet to believe that violent fighting for the caliphate is a religious obligation. In contrast to this picture, this article argues that many foreign fighters are rather motivated more by a quest for meaning and belonging, individual challenges and a sense of alienation than by deeply rooted political or religious convictions. In their search for belonging and meaning, these young Muslims come in contact with radicalizing milieus, where one-sided deliberation is unfolding and where attitudes polarize, motivation forms and is sustained. The article presents an interdisciplinary theory of radicalization, and discusses it in relation to case studies of Danish foreign fighters who have left for, or were on their way to fight, for Islamic State. By emphasizing the mobilization of foreign fighters and offering an explanatory framework for this empirical phenomenon, the article contributes to the theorization of social movements, which has too often focused solely on mobilization to progressive, pro-democratic and non-violent movements. Keywords: radicalization, foreign fighters, mobilization

Had, humor og bystander-reaktioner: danske unges reaktioner på politisk hadefulde memes

En udfordring med hadefuldt indhold på sociale medier er, at det ofte er pakket ind i en tilsyneladende uskyldig humor. Det gør det hadefulde materiale sværere at genkende og afkode. De fleste kan genkende hadefuld propaganda, når det følges af et hagekors eller et IS-flag. Men hvordan ser det ud, når det hadefulde budskab er præsenteret som et humoristisk meme? Samtidig rejser eksponering for hadefuldt materiale på sociale medier et vigtigt spørgsmål om, hvordan vi som bystanders reagerer. Hvornår intervenerer bystanders prosocialt og for eksempel anmelder hadefuldt indhold, og hvornår reagerer de antisocialt og deler og liker sådant indhold? Artiklen bidrager med en første kortlægning af danske unges vurdering af hadefulde memes, og hvordan disse vurderinger medformer de unges bystander-reaktioner i forhold til deres villighed til at like, dele og anmelde indholdet. Desuden undersøges det, hvad der kendetegner dem, som er tilbøjelige til at reagere henholdsvis prosocialt og antisocialt på hadefulde budskaber på sociale medier med hensyn til køn, politisk interesse samt aktivistiske og politisk voldelige intentioner. Artiklen trækker på en elektronisk spørgeskemaundersøgelse blandt 814 danske folkeskole- og gymnasieelever i alderen 13 til 18 år

From violent lone-actor types to lone-actor grievance-fueled violence: The Aarhus University shooting as an example of multi-facetted offender motivations and context-sensitive boundaries between violent lone-actor categories

Over the last decade, western societies have experienced an increase in acts of mass violence carried out by lone actors. While this concept is mostly associated with lone-actor terrorists, it also involves the actions of other single perpetrators, e.g., school shooters, workplace attackers, rampage shooters, and some forms of incel violence. In this article, we argue in favor of moving away from such categorization of violent lone-actor types and toward the unifying concept of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence. We illustrate the analytical benefits gained from such a conceptual shift by analyzing the Danish Aarhus University Shooting in 1994, where a single offender killed two students. While this attack is widely accepted as the only Danish school shooting in history, we identify signs of an extremist misogynist worldview held by what we today would call incels. This case serves as an illustration of the blurred and context-sensitive boundaries between violent lone-actor types and how nuances in offender motivation can be lost when lone-actor attacks are classified within a typological framework. Rather than simply recasting the Aarhus University Shooting as an incel attack considering the recent development of this category, we argue for the need to embrace the conceptualization of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence, which points toward the common genesis of lone-actor violence and allows for multi-faceted offender motivations. Using the Aarhus University shooting as a steppingstone, we discuss the pitfalls of lone-actor violence typologies and the advantages of the unifying lone-actor grievance-fueled violence conceptualization for both academia and practice

Press coverage of lone-actor terrorism in the UK and Denmark:shaping the reactions of the public, affected communities and copycat attackers

Following 9/11, Al-Qaeda-orchestrated plots were considered the greatest threat to Western security and sparked the coalition’s war on terror. Close to a decade later, the post-9/11 threat landscape had shifted significantly, leading then CIA-director Leon Panetta to describe “the lone-wolf strategy” as the main threat to the United States. Subsequent lone-actor attacks across the West, including the cities of London, Nice, Berlin, Stockholm, Ottawa and Charleston, further entrenched perspectives of a transformed security landscape in the “after, after-9/11” world. The unique features of lone-actor terrorism, including the challenges of interdiction and potential of copycat attacks, mean that the media is likely to play a particularly important role in shaping the reactions of the public, affected communities and copycat attackers. This article presents findings from a content analysis of British and Danish newspaper reporting of lone-actor terrorism between January 2010 and February 2015. The study highlights that lone-actor terrorism is framed, with national variations, as a significant and increasing problem in both countries; that Islamist lone-actors are often represented as distinct from far-right lone-actors; and that some reporting, despite relatively limited amplification of specific terrorist messages, potentially aids lone-actors by detailing state vulnerabilities to attacks

Negotiating Limits of Tolerance in Public Debates in Denmark: The case of political meetings arranged by ‘radical’ Muslim actors

Work Package 4: National Case Studies of Challenges to Tolerance in Political LifeThe ACCEPT PLURALISM project (2010-2013) is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme, Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities. (Call FP7-SSH-2009-A, Grant Agreement no: 243837). Coordinator: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute

Danish prevention of extremism and radicalization 2009-2014: trends and future challenges

In 2009, the Danish government led by Anders Fogh Rasmussen launched a wide-ranging action plan to prevent extremism and radicalization in Denmark. Critics have argued that the action plan in its attempt to approach the problem of radicalization in a holistic manner caused a counter-productive mixing of security and integration concerns. In September 2014, the government led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt introduced a new counter-radicalization plan, which, based on positive evaluations, continues central elements from the old plan, but also includes paradigmatic policy shifts. This article maps Danish efforts to prevent extremism and radicalization in light of the new action plan and traces developments in policy and implementation practices from 2009 to 2014. The article discusses reasons for the observed policy changes and identifies old and new challenges to the implementation of the 2014-action plan. In addition to a systematic comparison of the two policy documents, the article draws on official evaluations of Danish counter-radicalization efforts as well as practical handbooks published during the period under investigation

Forebyggelse af radikalisering, miskendelse og muslimsk minoritetsidentitet

Radikale muslimer udgør en meget lille minoritet i minoriteten i Danmark. Ikke desto mindre er der stor politisk bevågenhed omkring fænomenet radikalisering, og en række tiltag er iværksat for at forebygge radikalisering – tiltag som kan synes rettet mod specielt unge muslimer. En præmis for mange præventive tiltag mod radikalisering, herunder mange af tiltagene i regeringens handlingsplan på området fra januar 2009 er, at radikalisering ofte er et produkt af oplevet miskendelse fra det omgivende samfund. Derfor sigter flere af tiltagene, som f.eks. antidiskriminationskampagner, øget medinddragelse, rollemodeller, dialogaktiviteter m.m., mod at forebygge radikalisering ved at mindske vækstgrundlaget i form af oplevet krænkelse. Denne artikel spørger, om nogle af disse tiltag via deres formulering, politiske præsentation og implementering kan være med til at forstærke, snarere end inddæmme oplevelser af manglende anerkendelse hos modtagergruppen. Sagt på en anden måde, så undersøger artiklen, teoretisk såvel som empirisk, holdbarheden af nogle af de antagelser om forandring, som ligger bag den forebyggende indsats mod radikalisering. Artiklen behandler disse spørgsmål ud fra teoretiske betragtninger om forholdet mellem miskendelse, protestadfærd og (radikal) identitetskonstruktion. Det empiriske materiale, som artiklen bygger på, stammer fra en større interviewundersøgelse foretaget blandt unge muslimer i Århus. Artiklen argumenterer for, at en stor gruppe af de unge muslimer i interviewundersøgelsen opfatter den forebyggende indsats mod radikalisering som udtryk for generaliserende miskendelse og mistænkeliggørelse af muslimer, og der derfor eksisterer en fare for, at tiltagene, imod hensigten, kan føre til øget mistillid, afstand og oppositionelle identiteter