Counter-Radicalisation Policy and the Securing of British Identity: The Politics of Prevent

This book offers an innovative account of Prevent, Britain’s counter-radicalisation strategy, situating it as a novel form of power that has played a central role in the production and the policing of contemporary British identity. Drawing on interviews with those at the heart of Prevent’s development, the book provides readers with an in-depth history and conceptualisation of the policy. The book demonstrates that Prevent is an ambitious new way of thinking about violence that has led to the creation of a radical new role for the state: tackling vulnerability to radicalisation. Detailing the history of the policy, and the concepts and practices that have been developed within Prevent, this book critically engages with the assumptions on which they are based and the forms of power they mobilise.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 The (problematic) history of Prevent 2 The ‘separatist’ literature on Prevent (and the way forward) 3 The temporal ambition of Prevent: stopping people becoming terrorists 4 Crossing the temporal gap: vulnerability, extremism and the ordering of identities 5 Governing threatening environments: community cohesion and problem institutions 6 The Channel project: identifying individuals who are vulnerable to radicalisation 7 The identity politics of Prevent Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Thomas Martin is a Lecturer in International Studies at the Open University

Review :
'The author provides an original analysis of this strategy and its consequences on society through a critical and post-structuralist framework, which greatly complements the existing Critical Terrorism Studies’ literature on the subject....Martin’s work represents, therefore, an important analysis not only for scholars researching and deconstructing Prevent and the CONTEST strategy in the UK. It will also be of interest for those inquiring into the consequences on society of counter-radicalisation strategies and of other measures implemented in the name of security, and on how these impact and shape societies and participation in political life. Counter-radicalisation policy and the securing of British identity is thus an important and original contribution to Critical) Terrorism Studies' and (Critical) Security Studies and, more broadly, to disciplines such as International Relations, Criminology and Sociology.' Alice Martini, Critical Studies on Terrorism