UNESCO co-chairs in the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Extremism (UNESCO-PREV) David Morin and Vivek Venkatesh co-author a new chapter with Pablo Madriaza in a new book by Routledge – The Routledge Handbook on Radicalisation and Countering Radicalisation to be released on November 27.
The field of preventing violent radicalization (PVR) originated in the early 2000s to address perceived threats in the West. However, PVR theories, often rooted in the cultural traditions of the global North, are frequently imposed unilaterally on other regions, creating a Western-centric understanding of radicalization. This one-sided flow of knowledge, practices, and expertise perpetuates a pattern of coloniality, reinforcing Western dominance in constructing universal narratives that may not align with the cultural contexts of former European colonies.
Analyzing a recent review of PVR programs, the chapter by Madriaza, Morin and Venkatesh, Re-colonising the field of evaluation of prevention of violent radicalisation: A critical, cross-regional perspective, critically examines transregional knowledge and power dynamics, highlighting the prevalence of Western perspectives in evaluations conducted by researchers from Europe and North America in non-Western regions. The chapter concludes that such dominance may compromise the relevance and effectiveness of PVR programs in regions where they are implemented.
