The good, the bad, and the ugly – Involving civil society organizations in Nordic policy for preventing extremism

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, we use critical policy analysis to explore how Nordic national policies express the purposes and positions of civil society organizations (CSOs) in efforts to prevent violent extremism (PVE). Furthermore, we analyze how the problem of extremism is constituted by this involvement. While the paper finds that CSOs are positioned as important actors, much due to their autonomous character and their legitimacy among target groups, the purposes and measures suggested in policy may harm their voluntary character. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the problem with extremism is mainly placed within the realms of religious communities and thereby runs the risk of (re)producing ideas of Islam as an extreme, anti-democratic religion. In extension, the well-intended involvement of CSOs in policy to prevent violent extremism might, in its current form, jeopardize the democratic rights of freedom of organization and freedom of speech and religion.