‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities

ABSTRACT

The UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) (CTSA) calls for a partnership between the government, individuals, organisations and communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals and to prevent their participation in terrorist and illegal activities. As part of this strategy, universities have a statutory duty placed upon them to remain vigilant to signs of extremism. Based upon 20 interviews with UK university lecturers, the paper examines reactions of the academic community to this governmental mandate. Key to our understanding is the deputisation of lecturers into a security regime and how they perform the duty of identifying and monitoring extremism. Equally, forms of resistance are evident in how lecturers understand their new roles and for universities themselves a conservative approach to risk may be gaining traction. We argue there is confusion around the CTSA based upon the ambiguous language in which it is presented and the conservative and defensive reactions that have subsequently produced concern amongst lecturers and UK universities.

KEYWORDS:

• CTSA
• radicalisation
• extremism
• universities
• security
• counter-terrorism

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In addition, we are grateful to the comments made by colleagues at the Centre for Applied Criminology Research Seminars at BCU and the reviewers of this paper in how we themed our findings.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keith Spiller

Dr. Keith Spiller is a Lecturer in Criminology and Programme Director for the MA in Security Studies at Birmingham City University. His research focuses on the consequences of security, counter-crime measures, counter-terrorism strategies and surveillance. He has a particular interest in the tacit knowledges employed by organisations and individuals in order to meet compliance regulations. He has published work on eBorders, money laundering, CCTV and the impacts of security regimes. His most recent co-authored book, entitled: The Private Security State?: Surveillance, consumer Data and the War on Terror is published by Copenhagen Business School Press.

Imran Awan

Dr. Imran Awan is an Associate Professor in Criminology and Deputy Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. His research examines the impact of Islamophobia and security upon Muslim communities.  He is a regular contributor to the Guardian, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Independent and the New Statesman. His contributions to education were recognised when he was nominated for the ‘Services to Education’ award at the British Muslim Awards (2016).  His new co-authored book, entitled: Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation is published by Policy Press.

Andrew Whiting

Dr. Andrew Whiting is a Lecturer in Security Studies at Birmingham City University. His research has focused on two distinct areas, the construction of cyber-security knowledge within different discourses and the impacts of UK Counter‑Terrorism policy within Higher Education.  His research has been published in The European Journal of International Security, Global Society and Perspectives on Terrorism as well as in edited volumes including Counter-Radicalisation: Critical Perspectives (Abingdon: Routledge, 2015); and Researching Terrorism, Peace and Conflict Studies (Abingdon: Routledge, 2015).