Extremism and Counter-terrorism

This workstream benefits from cross-disciplinary perspectives and explores extremism and terrorism in light of different expressions (violent vs non-violent), ideological trends and offline and online eco-systems.

Given the complex nature of these phenomena, we regularly collaborate with key stakeholders (e.g. government departments, counter-terror policing and Prevent practitioners) as well as with a variety of partners (e.g. other universities, global research networks, NGOs and charities). This enables us to work in a participatory research setting to produce evidence-based research, training and other tools to help practitioners and a wider pool of beneficiaries to fight against extremism and terrorism in their various expressions, in the UK and beyond.

We have three sub-themes in this work area:

• Violent vs vocal extremism: exploring the shift from vocal extremists (non-violent) to terror offenders in the UK and beyond; analysing the triggers to violence, the protective factors and the differences between the two populations (vocal extremism vs terror offenders).
• Online posting behaviour of legally operating extremist groups: we are monitoring the online posting behaviour of established organisations with an extreme mindset but legally operating in the UK. Since 2022, we have worked on several ideological milieux, mapping online ecosystems where their activity is more prominent, identifying common narratives and recruitment tactics as well as offline mobilisation effects.
• Extremism and gaming: we have been looking at the intersection between extremist communities in gaming-adjacent platforms (e.g. Discord, Twitch and Steam) and the policing of extremist (borderline) content on said platforms. These are empowering (vulnerable) gamers and their social intimates to build resilience against extremism; equipping P/CVE (Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism) practitioners with knowledge and understanding of extremism within online gaming communities.