- Ola Flennegård, University of Gothenburg: Educational prevention of antisemitism? Swedish teachers’ didactic strategies and students’ understanding of the Holocaust during study trips to memorial sites
- Martin Sjøen, University of Bergen: Assessing the implementation of local Norwegian P/CVE – What has been done so far and what have we learned?
- Liv Kristine Moe, European University Institute: Gender, global governance, and counterterrorism: Local responses to the prevention of violent extremism – The case of Norway
- Hanna Buer Haddeland & Ingunn Ikdahl, University of Oslo: Understanding changes in the civil state after violent extremism: Temporalities of Norwegian developments
Abstracts
Educational prevention of antisemitism? Swedish teachers’ didactic strategies and students’ understanding of the Holocaust during study trips to memorial sites
Ola Flennegård, University of Gothenburg
Antisemitism is at the core of most modern conspiracy theories (e. g. Byford, 2021), encouraging teachers to counteract antisemitic believes among youths. In recent years, teaching and learning about the Holocaust, particularly study trips to Holocaust memorial sites, have been argued to constitute the primary bulwark against antisemitism (Pearce et al., 2020). Thus, preventing antisemitism is one reason why one out of four Swedish teenagers has visited Auschwitz, the vast majority as part of their schooling (Flennegård, 2023). The presentation will shed light upon and problematise this educational phenomenon, regarding education about antisemitism. Two empirical studies on Swedish study trips to Holocaust memorial sites, both using critical discourse analysis (CDA) as theoretical framework and methodological engine, will be tenets of the presentation. The first is based on interviews with nine teachers and critically examines the teachers’ main purpose and overarching didactic strategy in relation to explanatory approaches to the Holocaust, such as antisemitism. The second study, which employed full-project interviews and participant observations during a study trip, demonstrates how the purpose and the applied strategy tended to leave antisemitism out of content. The presentation will argue that study trips may not be legitimized as a prime bulwark against antisemitism.
Assessing the implementation of local Norwegian P/CVE – What has been done so far and what have we learned?
Martin Sjøen, University of Bergen & Hanna Munden, C-REX, University of Oslo
Preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) efforts in Norway has evolved from a marginal and minor component of societal welfare to a widespread and mainstream political issue that impacts many social fields. Previously enacted by police, security services and the armed forces, P/CVE now also includes efforts from other sectors including, but not limited to, social services, healthcare, the education sector and local communities.
Starting in 2015, the Norwegian government has offered annual grants for projects aiming to prevent radicalisation, violent extremism and terrorism carried out in Norwegian municipalities. The current research-in-progress explores how these grants have been utilised. More specifically, the empirical data in this study consist of local P/CVE grant applications and follow-up reports on efforts carried out by public and civil society actors. By applying qualitative document analysis (QDA) to the documents detailing localised PVE/CVE efforts between 2017–2021, the study seeks to gain insights into the key features of the local prevention work in Norway.
Gender, global governance, and counterterrorism: Local responses to the prevention of violent extremism – The case of Norway
Liv Kristine Moe, European University Institute
Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) strategies and policies operate at the global, regional, and local levels. Increasingly, attention has been paid to the ways gender shapes and impacts both terrorism and counterterrorism strategies. In 2015, this led to the UN Security Council adoption of Resolution 2242, which integrated the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda into the global counterterrorism regime. This integration resulted in several operational paragraphs on how to include gender within these global and local regimes.
In this paper, I explore the local operationalisation of these provisions. Drawing on feminist institutionalist theory, I analyse the practices of P/CVE in Norway. I pay particular attention to the link between the global and local governance of violent extremism in relation to how gender shapes these responses. The findings of this paper are informed by interviews with practitioners in Norway, and aim to understand the local implementation of global counterterrorism laws and policies. I argue that although gender approaches have become more prominent at the global level since 2015, it is not institutionalised in everyday prevention work in Norway. The lack of gender approaches to P/CVE affects the way (violent) extremism can be understood, and how it can be tackled.
Understanding changes in the civil state after violent extremism: Temporalities of Norwegian developments
Hanna Buer Haddeland & Ingunn Ikdahl, University of Oslo
Violent extremism challenges the state. State responses include not only criminal investigation and punishment, but also the expansion of civil measures and laws to address the needs of victims. Such responses expand the state's role and responsibilities towards its citizens. However, the temporality and complexity of such changes are understudied.
This paper draws attention to the changing role of the civil state following violent extremism. It examines five dimensions of the Norwegian state’s responses to the needs of victims of terror: legal aid attorneys, victims’ registries, compensation, social security, and health care services. To capture the ebb-and-flow of needs, expectations, efforts and limitations, these dimensions are pursued from 22 July 2011 to 25 June 2022.
This paper demonstrates how some measures have remained in place and served to permanently enlarge the role of the (welfare) state, while others have been repealed or faded over time. We argue that studying such trajectories over time contributes to the understanding of the complex mechanisms – including the interplay between violent extremism and quiet normalcy – that shape the role and responsibilities of a modern civil state towards its citizens' needs.