The Politics of “Extremism” and Schooling

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Religion, Security, and Schooling: Educational Responses to Extremism and Related Issues

Proposal

In the nearly two decades since the “War on Terror” was first declared by the government of the United States in 2001, the role of schooling has become increasingly prominent in advancing the political and economic interests of the state in the rhetoric of national security. As the scope and sites of U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts have expanded globally through drone strikes, mass surveillance, and restrictive immigration controls, education has become a critical theater in mitigating the threat of extremism across the Global South, and, more recently, in the countries of the Global North. Throughout the 2000s, the U.S. government and private entities have developed and funded educational programming across the Middle East and broader “Muslim World” to “promote democracy” and “teach tolerance.” In the 2010s, the further proliferation of an extant Islamophobia in the United States—seen prominently in media reports of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, 2015 Paris and San Bernardino attacks, and the 2016 presidential nominating contests—has given rise to state surveillance of immigrant and Muslim communities (Ali, 2016), as well as educational and social media programming for the youth from these communities. This talk considers how “security” has become a basis for global educational policymaking and reform, and critically analyses historical events and educational documents from the United States and sites of US counterterrorism efforts and attention in the past two decades. The aim is to present a systematic overview the development and movement of discourses and policies of countering youth radicalization through education.

Author

• Roozbeh Shirazi, University of Minnesota