Can Community Engagement Counter Radicalization?

Open Society Fellow Arun Kundnani recently gave a lecture on community engagement models used by U.S. law enforcement agencies among Muslim populations across the country.

A new White House position paper on preventing violent extremism in the United States sees government engagement with the Muslim community as the best way to counter radicalization. Drawing on a community-oriented policing model that has been used to counter gang violence, the approach aims to build trust with the community, generate intelligence, and counter radical narratives.

But Kundnani believes that there are potential dangers in simply replicating the community engagement approach used to counter gang violence. Unless it is properly understood, he argues, community engagement can become a tool for inappropriate forms of intelligence-gathering and restrictions on free expression.

Listen to the talk above.