Preventing and countering violent extremism: a comparison between European countries

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 On 13 October 2023, a mass stabbing occurred at the Gambetta-Carnot secondary school in Arras, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France. One person was killed and three others were seriously wounded. The attack was believed to be connected to rumours that Hamas had called for a Global Day of Terrorism on the 13th. The suspect was previously known to the French security services for his involvement in radical Islamism.

2 Two Swedish nationals were shot dead in Brussels on 16 October 2023 in a terrorist attack linked to the conflict in Middle East.

3 PARTICIPATION was a Horizon 2020 funded project aimed at preventing extremism, radicalisation and polarisation that can lead to violence through more effective social and educational policies and interventions. The project has offered a holistic approach towards extremism and radicalisation in order to capture and explore contemporary experiences of extremism and radicalisation and proposes concrete actions, policies, and digital tools that will empower policy actors and practitioners to respond to a changing reality. The project’s main topics were also violence, conflict and conflict resolution, transformation of societies, democratisation, and social movements. Francesco Antonelli, University of Roma Tre, was the coordinator of PARTICIPATION that involved fifteen partners from all over Europe. This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 962547. It started in November 2020 and concluded in November 2023. More information on the PARTICIPATION project is available at: https://participation-in.eu.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Francesco Antonelli

Francesco Antonelli is Professor of Sociology (Roma Tre University) and the Coordinator of the Horizon2020 Project 'PARTICIPATION. Analyzing and Preventing Extremism Via Participation' (Grant Agreement 962547). Among his recent book Technocratic Politics. Beyond Democratic Society? (London & New York, 2022).

Santina Musolino

Santina Musolino is a research fellow in Sociology at the Department of Political Sciences (Roam Tre University). His research topics include gender, political violence, violent extremism. Among his publications 'Soggettività femminili e violenza politica' (Mimesis 2017), 'Las políticas de la UE para la prevención del extremismo violento: ¿un nuevo paradigma de acción?'(CIDOB Revista 2021), 'Social Movements and Social Disobedience During the COVID-19 Crisis: The Case of the Italian University' (Springer 2023).

Valeria Rosato

Valeria Rosato is a research fellow of sociology, writes on issues related to security, terrorism and peacekeeping processes. Among her recent publications are Preventing radicalisation and terrorism in Europe: A comparative analysis of policies (Cambridge 2019) and Sociological considerations on organized violence. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict between 'old' and 'new' wars (Journal of Political & Military Sociology, forthcoming).