De-radicalisation interventions as technologies of the self: a Foucauldian analysis

Abstract

De-radicalisation has become increasingly prevalent in the UK as a strategy for tackling the threat of religiously inspired violence/extremism. Recent events, such as the tragic murder of Lee Rigby in May 2013, British citizens fighting in Middle Eastern conflicts, and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, have rekindled the preoccupation of policymakers with the radicalisation of British Muslims. Indeed, the work of the Prevent strategy in UK counterterrorism post-2011 has primarily been recalibrated towards a greater focus on de-radicalisation interventions, which is perceived by policy-makers to be a more streamlined and effective way of dealing with radicalised/extremist individuals. And, yet, despite the greater attention paid to de-radicalisation, the discourse on de-radicalisation is characterised by the absence of detailed research, little or no empirical evidence for policy development, and confusion surrounding its conceptual framework. This article therefore offers an alternative conceptualisation of de-radicalisation to the one found in the Prevent strategy. Drawing on the works of Foucault, I argue that de-radicalisation is best understood as a “technology of the self”. This article will enumerate the interplay between the three major types of technologies that constitute the technologies of the self: discursive, disciplinary, and confessional technology. It is argued that conceptualising de-radicalisation as a technology of the self allows us to reframe it beyond the narrow confines of counterterrorism policy and places it within wider governmental relations.

Keywords:

• de-radicalisation
• radicalisation
• counterterrorism
• prevent strategy
• technology of the self
• Foucault

Notes

1. Those programmes are primarily (1) based in prisons; (2) target convicted criminals, militants, and terrorists; and (3) aimed at collective groups. A number of reports on these programmes reveal that these programmes were more concerned with behavioural change rather than cognitive change (Bjorgo and Horgan 2009).

2. In 2007, a research project titled ‘New Security Challenge: Radicalisation and Violence – A Critical Reassessment’ and funded by the Foreign Office, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council, was set up, with a pot of £2.5 million to examine and assess the causes of radicalisation (NSC 2007, 4).

3. Casanova paraphrasing Karl Marx’s formulation of “On the Jewish Question”.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammed Elshimi

Mohammed Elshimi is a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter. He read History (BA) at the University College London and obtained a Masters (MA) in International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African Studies. His PhD research examines the idea and practice of de-radicalisation interventions in the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy. His research interests include the war on terror, history and politics of the Middle East, the study of modern Muslim political and religious thought, Islamist politics and organisations, the sociology and politics of Muslim communities in Britain, and transnational political violence.