Communities under suspicion – Do proactive security policies and extremism prevention have unintended racist side effects?

Objective/question
Repressive measures to combat radicalization and extremism, but also prevention in particular, can lead to unintended racist effects and contribute to the formation or consolidation of stereotypes in society. This is particularly the case when they focus on minorities or when generalizing characteristics such as ethnicity, language, appearance, religion, etc. are used as ‘markers’ for the identification of extremist individuals or for the target group description of prevention work and are reinforced by the media. In the research literature, this effect is described as the construction of suspect communities. One consequence can be that people who feel under general suspicion withdraw from public life or even more so show solidarity with already radicalized groups. Such mechanisms have been identified in Great Britain in particular. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was Irish people who were stigmatized in the course of the Prevention of Terrorism Acts; after the 2005 attacks, it was the Muslim community that increasingly came under collective suspicion of extremism as a result of the British counter-terrorism strategy Prevent.

“Suspicious communities” in Germany too?
The sub-project is therefore investigating whether the construction of “communities of suspicion” also occurs in Germany in the course of the so-called prevention of Islamism. If so, the question is how exactly the mechanisms work and how the process can be prevented. If not, the question is how the formation of communities of suspicion could be prevented in Germany and what lessons can be learned from this for the prevention of racist effects in other institutions. State and non-state institutions for the prevention of extremism and the effect of their work on Muslims or those perceived as Muslim will be examined. On the one hand, prevention measures and practices will be analyzed on the basis of strategy papers and interviews with (state and civil society) actors involved in prevention work. On the other hand, the experiences and perceptions of the affected groups themselves will be examined and made visible by means of focus group discussions.

The sub-project contributes to the overall project by providing insights into how unintended racist effects can arise through institutions and how they can be prevented. At the end of the project, a handout for practitioners will be produced containing recommendations for racism-sensitive prevention of extremism and radicalization based on best practices.

Project manager: Prof. Dr. Christopher Daase | daase@normativeorders.net

Project team members:
Dr. Hande Abay Gaspar
Lea Deborah Scheu