%0 Journal Article
%T Implementing ¡®Prevent¡¯ in countering violent extremism in the UK: A left
%A Tahir Abbas
%J Critical Social Policy
%@ 1461-703X
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0261018318819001
%X This article attempts to situate the UK ¡®Prevent¡¯ policy debate in the wider framework of the global Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) paradigm that emerged in late 2015. It is argued that the omission of a nuanced approach to the social, cultural, economic and political characteristics of the radicalised, there is a tendency to introduce blanket measures that inadvertently and indirectly lead to harm. Moreover, though ¡®Prevent¡¯ has been the outward-facing element of the UK government¡¯s counter-extremism strategy since 2006, it conflates legitimate political resistance among young British Muslims as indications of violent extremism, providing credence to the argument that ¡®Prevent¡¯ is a form of social engineering ultimately mollifying resistance by re-affirming the status quo on domestic and foreign policy. In these circumstances, ¡®Prevent¡¯ can unintentionally add to structural and cultural Islamophobia, which are amplifiers of both Islamist and far right radicalisation. ¡®Safeguarding¡¯ vulnerable young people is imperative in this social policy domain but the language of inclusion in this is absent
%K Countering Violent Extremism
%K far right
%K Islamophobia
%K ¡®Prevent¡¯
%K radicalisation
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0261018318819001