More focus needed on ‘extremism’ and White Young People?
Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:43:00 BST
The ‘Prevent’ policy, Britain’s policy approach to terrorism prevention has consistently been mistaken in its focus only on Muslim communities, in the view of the University of Huddersfield’s Professor Paul Thomas. In his view, there is clear evidence of the need to engage with white young people around the dangers of extremism and racist ideologies that promote it. For that reason Professor Thomas is particularly pleased to be acting as an adviser/consultant, alongside Professor Ted Cantle, architect of the post-2001 policy shift towards ‘community cohesion’ to a pioneering South Wales project aimed at educating white young people about the dangers of extremism. The ‘Think Project’ has been devised by the Swansea-based Ethnic Youth Support Team, an ethnic-minority-focussed project that recognised the neglect of marginalised white young people in south Wales and responded by a structured anti-extremism programme that they are now delivering within alternative education centres. The aim of the consultancy input is to help the ‘Think Project’ further develop this work and to identify support and resources that can enable the work to be taken up more widely. In support of that Ted Cantle and Paul Thomas will both be keynote speakers at a EYST Conference ‘Wales Conference on Far Right Young People and Extremism’ to be held at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff on Tuesday 22ndt October. The University also has on-going funded research around attitudes in marginalised white communities that we will be reporting on during 2013/14 – watch this space.
