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'What does terrorism look like?': University lecturers' interpretations of their CTSA duties and tackling extremism in UK Universities

'What does terrorism look like?': University lecturers' interpretations of their CTSA duties and tackling extremism in UK Universities
'What does terrorism look like?': University lecturers' interpretations of their CTSA duties and tackling extremism in UK Universities
The UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) (CTSA) calls for a partnership between the government, individuals, organisations and communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals and to prevent their participation in terrorist and illegal activities. As part of this strategy, universities have a statutory duty placed upon them to remain vigilant to signs of extremism. Based upon 20 interviews with UK university lecturers, the paper examines reactions of the academic community to this governmental mandate. Key to our understanding is the deputisation of lecturers into a security regime and how they perform the duty of identifying and monitoring extremism. Equally, forms of resistance are evident in how lecturers understand their new roles and for universities themselves a conservative approach to risk may be gaining traction. We argue there is confusion around the CTSA based upon the ambiguous language in which it is presented and the conservative and defensive reactions that have subsequently produced concern amongst lecturers and UK universities.
counter-terrorism, CTSA, extremism, radicalisation, security, universities
1753-9153
130-50
Spiller, Keith
d0ea9172-6ef6-4f80-9f34-2285b41ab237
Awan, Imran
40d444cb-e6f7-4100-b554-975b1eee8498
Whiting, Andrew
a587eaf0-17b1-4508-b1c6-4cdc4c4537e3
Spiller, Keith
d0ea9172-6ef6-4f80-9f34-2285b41ab237
Awan, Imran
40d444cb-e6f7-4100-b554-975b1eee8498
Whiting, Andrew
a587eaf0-17b1-4508-b1c6-4cdc4c4537e3

Spiller, Keith, Awan, Imran and Whiting, Andrew (2018) 'What does terrorism look like?': University lecturers' interpretations of their CTSA duties and tackling extremism in UK Universities. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 11 (1), 130-50. (doi:10.1080/17539153.2017.1396954).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (2015) (CTSA) calls for a partnership between the government, individuals, organisations and communities to prevent the radicalisation of individuals and to prevent their participation in terrorist and illegal activities. As part of this strategy, universities have a statutory duty placed upon them to remain vigilant to signs of extremism. Based upon 20 interviews with UK university lecturers, the paper examines reactions of the academic community to this governmental mandate. Key to our understanding is the deputisation of lecturers into a security regime and how they perform the duty of identifying and monitoring extremism. Equally, forms of resistance are evident in how lecturers understand their new roles and for universities themselves a conservative approach to risk may be gaining traction. We argue there is confusion around the CTSA based upon the ambiguous language in which it is presented and the conservative and defensive reactions that have subsequently produced concern amongst lecturers and UK universities.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 23 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 17 November 2017
Published date: 2 January 2018
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords: counter-terrorism, CTSA, extremism, radicalisation, security, universities

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 471914
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/471914
ISSN: 1753-9153
PURE UUID: 167611e1-a6aa-4fa5-b478-989ca4d7e314
ORCID for Keith Spiller: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5796-8165

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Date deposited: 22 Nov 2022 17:44
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:14

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Contributors

Author: Keith Spiller ORCID iD
Author: Imran Awan
Author: Andrew Whiting

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