This short journal article considers the impact of the statutory promotion of ‘fundamental British values’ (FBV) through Prevent, and its impact on Muslims in the UK, in particular Muslim political activity and discourses.
Author Dr. Khadijah Elshayyal unpacks how the institutionalisation of FBV has undermined possibilities for open dialogue and collaboration between grassroots activist platforms.
By effectively blacklisting certain voices and positions, she writes, the state dictates and delimits the parameters within which ‘legitimate’ conversation can be had.
By self-regulating their own language and public image, ‘good’ Muslims police ‘bad’ Muslims, and in doing so, hope to retain access to the ear of the state. Thus, the state is able to contain, dull and even neuter Muslim identity politics.
Dr. Elshayyal asks: “Are we seeing a situation where the validation given (even if inadvertently or reluctantly) by Muslim activists and advocacy groups to the culture of Prevent is in itself the most potent neutralising force towards dissent and effectively an insidious force for relative uniformity of stance?”
Read the full article on Maydan, the official journal site of the Abu Sulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University.
Related Resources
- The People’s Review of Prevent (Report, 2022)
- Embedding Structures of Surveillance in Muslim Communities through Prevent (Journal article, 2018)
- Prevent and Counter-Extremism as Counter-Insurgency (Journal article, 2017)
- ‘We are Completely Independent’: The Home Office, Breakthrough Media and the Prevent Counter-Extremism Industry (Report, 2016)
