8: Racialisation in UK Counterterrorism Law and Policy

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This chapter examines the ways in which processes of racialisation are embedded within the exercise and implementation of UK counterterrorism laws and policies. This is revealed through consideration of the cumulative impact of four interconnected issues: the definition of terrorism; the development of pre-emptive criminal offences; the emerging frame of radicalisation as a way to explain and understand why people turn to violence; and the evolution of the government’s strategy for preventing radicalisation. An examination of these issues reveals how processes of racialisation often remain beyond the reach of public law review. It shows the limits of public law as a tool of social change when state actions operate against a broader backdrop of racist narratives and ideas that are sufficiently normalised so as to go unnoticed and unchallenged.

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