CategoriesLatest News Trojan Horse Affair in the NewsA new documentary on the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair has been released on Al-Jazeera Arabic channel. There are no subtitles, however some of the interviews are in English. You can watch the full documentary on Al-Jazeera.
CategoriesTrojan Horse Affair in the News Latest NewsIn the toxic discussions around Muslim integration, the ‘fear of being called racist’ has been used during the Trojan Horse Affair and at the same time as the excuse for failures to act on child sexual exploitation. Prof. John Holmwood asks whether this fear even exists, or are deeper racist politics at play? There has been a steady drumbeat, in right-wing and liberal media alike, about the failure of British Muslims to integrate. This drumbeat warns of self-segregated lives insulated from mainstream values. This is often fed by official reports that are occasioned by media “scares” and used to align public policy with media-driven concerns highlighting threats to public safety. Among the most potent of such concerns are those involving children and young people. On the one hand, there is the claimed risk of “radicalisation” and involvement in “Islamist” terrorism to which some young people may be vulnerable (because, we […]
CategoriesLatest News Trojan HorseAn open symposium on the Trojan Horse affair at Birmingham University and on Microsoft Teams on Thursday 19 June provides a valuable opportunity for interested parties to reflect on the longer-term impact of the incident, including: To what extent have ‘liberal anxieties’ given rise to an illiberal environment for British Muslims? How have academies changed the accountability of schools from local communities to central government? How has Muslim civic engagement been affected by being placed under a security lens? What is its impact on engagement with schools? How might civic education in schools be reframed through a duty to promote citizenship? Speakers: Professor John Holmwood, University of Nottingham; Dr Ajmal Hussain, University of Warwick; Professor Reza Gholam, University of Birmingham. Register for the event here. Related… Browse our resources on the Trojan Horse Affair
CategoriesLatest News Trojan Horse Affair in the NewsIt was not until after the Birmingham Trojan Horse scandal that a new agenda for Prevent was fully implemented. This article argues that Prevent this has further securitised British Muslims instead of empowering them and recognising their ability to challenge violent narratives, writes Zin Darfoufi. Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition set out its intentions to direct counter-terrorism policies towards ‘non-violent extremism’ in 2011, the Prevent strategy has pivoted away from community engagement and towards a stronger focus on the alleged risks of young people being ‘radicalised’ by their own community. It was not until after the Birmingham Trojan Horse scandal that this new agenda was fully implemented, with a legal duty placed on all those providing public services – employees in education, health and mental health and social work, etc – to monitor service users and report individuals who may be a cause for concern to local Prevent panels. As […]