‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities

Spiller, Keith and Awan, Imran and Whiting, Andrew (2017) ‘What does terrorism look like?’: university lecturers’ interpretations of their Prevent duties and tackling extremism in UK universities. Critical Studies on Terrorism. pp. 1-21. ISSN 1753-9153

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Abstract

The UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) (CTSA) calls for a partnership between the government, individuals, organisations and communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals and to prevent their participation in terrorist and illegal activities. As part of this
strategy, universities have a statutory duty placed upon them to remain vigilant to signs of extremism. Based upon 20 interviews with UK university lecturers, the paper examines reactions of the academic community to this governmental mandate. Key to our understanding is the deputisation of lecturers into a security regime and how they perform the duty of identifying and monitoring extremism. Equally, forms of resistance are evident in how lecturers understand their new roles and for universities themselves a conservative approach to risk may be gaining traction. We argue there is confusion around the CTSA based upon the ambiguous language in which it is presented and the conservative and defensive reactions that have subsequently produced concern amongst lecturers and UK universities.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2017.1396954
Dates:
DateEvent
23 October 2017Accepted
17 November 2017Published Online
Subjects: CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-02 - sociology
CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-03 - social policy
CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-01 - social sciences (non-specific)
Divisions: Faculty of Business, Law and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences > Criminology and Sociology
Depositing User: Imran Awan
Date Deposited: 07 Dec 2017 14:44
Last Modified: 12 Jan 2022 14:06
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5381

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