Current Social Psychological Phenomena, 5 op

For over a decade ‘violent extremism’ and ‘radicalization’ have been key words in both academic and public discourses concerning security in the EU countries. Continuous threat of terrorism and attacks such as those perpetrated in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016, together with the large number of ‘foreign fighters’ travelling from Europe to Syria are some phenomena that explain why violent extremism remains at top of the political agenda in EU.

This MA level course observes violent extremism from both practical and theoretical perspectives. During the course we seek answers to the following questions: What kind of process is radicalization in cognitive sense? How do individuals adopt radical ideas? What is the role of ideology and religion in this process? How do people take the additional step of employing violence to further the views derived from cognitive radicalism and finally, how to prevent violent radicalization? Over the past ten years many governments have adopted increasingly nuanced counter-radicalization strategies. How do they look like?

The course is implemented as part Reach Out 3 project, funded by European Union’s Internal Security Fund (ISF).