This journal article discusses state-Muslim engagement by considering the implications of the Prevent strategy. It was published in the journal Sociology in Feb 2015.
Authored by Theresa O’Toole, Nasar Meer, Daniel Nilsson DeHanas, Stephen H Jones, and Tariq Modood, the article argues that the logics of Prevent have been highly problematic for state-Muslim engagement.
Their analysis of the practices of governing through Prevent is based on research carried out for the ‘Muslim participation in contemporary governance’ study in 2013.
Then the authors analysed three policy domains where government has increasingly recognised or engaged with Muslims:
- equalities and diversity policies where recognition of religious, and Muslim, difference and identities has come increasingly to the fore;
- participatory approaches to welfare delivery and service provision where faith-based, including Muslim, organisations have emerged as key partners or stakeholders; and
- security and counter-terrorism, which has involved a Muslim community engagement strand as a key element of the Prevent strategy.
In addition, the study drew on policy analysis and 112 semi-structured interviews with government and Muslim civil society actors working at the national level, as well as in three local case-study areas of Birmingham, Leicester and Tower Hamlets.
The full journal article is available HERE.
Related resources
- Spatialized Islamophobia (Book, 2022)
- Prevent and counter-extremism as counter-insurgency (Journal article, 2017)
- Prevent: A cradle-to-grave police state (Report, 2014)
Picture: Maggie Yap, Unsplash