The prevent duty in UK higher education: Insights from freedom of information requests
The prevent duty in UK higher education: Insights from freedom of information requests
Drawing upon 157 responses to Freedom of Information Requests sent to Higher Education Institutions across England, Scotland and Wales, this article explores how the Prevent Duty has been enacted within UK higher education. The article shows how the duty has seen considerable repositioning and restructuring across the sector, conflated counterterrorism with safeguarding and introduced further bureaucracy. The article also explores the low number of Channel referrals, the justifications provided for these and the several instances in which institutions refused to disclose this information. We argue that these disproportionate developments have brought harmful depoliticising effects while also enhancing the mechanisms of surveillance and governance. Furthermore, we argue that our findings demonstrate the value in Freedom of Information Requests as a means of approach and suggest a continued need for critical researchers to explore the specific functioning of the duty to complement the broader critiques that are levelled at the policy as a whole.
counter-extremism, counterterrorism, extremism, freedom of information, higher education, Prevent, Prevent Duty, safeguarding, surveillance, terrorism
513-532
Whiting, Andrew
a587eaf0-17b1-4508-b1c6-4cdc4c4537e3
Campbell, Ben
d9ca0ade-61bd-478a-832f-3a43f5bc64da
Spiller, Keith
d0ea9172-6ef6-4f80-9f34-2285b41ab237
Awan, Imran
40d444cb-e6f7-4100-b554-975b1eee8498
1 August 2021
Whiting, Andrew
a587eaf0-17b1-4508-b1c6-4cdc4c4537e3
Campbell, Ben
d9ca0ade-61bd-478a-832f-3a43f5bc64da
Spiller, Keith
d0ea9172-6ef6-4f80-9f34-2285b41ab237
Awan, Imran
40d444cb-e6f7-4100-b554-975b1eee8498
Whiting, Andrew, Campbell, Ben, Spiller, Keith and Awan, Imran
(2021)
The prevent duty in UK higher education: Insights from freedom of information requests.
The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 23 (3), .
(doi:10.1177/1369148120968520).
Abstract
Drawing upon 157 responses to Freedom of Information Requests sent to Higher Education Institutions across England, Scotland and Wales, this article explores how the Prevent Duty has been enacted within UK higher education. The article shows how the duty has seen considerable repositioning and restructuring across the sector, conflated counterterrorism with safeguarding and introduced further bureaucracy. The article also explores the low number of Channel referrals, the justifications provided for these and the several instances in which institutions refused to disclose this information. We argue that these disproportionate developments have brought harmful depoliticising effects while also enhancing the mechanisms of surveillance and governance. Furthermore, we argue that our findings demonstrate the value in Freedom of Information Requests as a means of approach and suggest a continued need for critical researchers to explore the specific functioning of the duty to complement the broader critiques that are levelled at the policy as a whole.
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 21 December 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 December 2020
Published date: 1 August 2021
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
This research is part of a project that has been funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. However, the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Trust.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
Keywords:
counter-extremism, counterterrorism, extremism, freedom of information, higher education, Prevent, Prevent Duty, safeguarding, surveillance, terrorism
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 470669
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/470669
ISSN: 1369-1481
PURE UUID: b120920b-2cb2-468e-a2c7-b3622f28f39c
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Date deposited: 17 Oct 2022 16:59
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:07
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Contributors
Author:
Andrew Whiting
Author:
Ben Campbell
Author:
Keith Spiller
Author:
Imran Awan
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