Speaker
Description
The objective of this paper is to examine the role of sport within the global deradicalization and countering violent extremism (CVE) industry. Deradicalization is a social and psychological intervention that reduces an individual’s commitment to, and involvement in, radicalization such that they are no longer at risk of involvement in terrorism (Horgan, 2009). Sport has recently become salient to the pursuit of such efforts, illustrated by the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC’s) Line Up, Live Up! program and the Technical Guide on Preventing Violent Extremism through Sport. While there may be positive elements to such programs, such as the provision of sporting opportunities to underserved youth, their growth has taken place within a context of intensified hostility and violence towards Muslim, migrant, and newcomer communities that inescapably shapes their design and impact. While previous research (Ali & King, 2021; Ali, 2019) provides preliminary assessments of this relationship, sport for deradicalization and CVE is yet to receive robust scholarly attention. As such, this paper aims to construct a genealogy of sport for CVE within the UN, and identify the social, political, and ideological processes and mechanisms by which sport has come to be understood as an effective tool for deradicalization. Specifically, findings stemming from (1) an archival analysis of the UNODC’s policies and initiatives on sport for CVE, and (2) a critical examination of the Line Up, Live Up! program will be presented, as will the implications of these findings for racialized communities considered especially “vulnerable” to violent extremism.
