Radicalisation on British University Campuses: a case study

18 October 2010

Quilliam’s latest briefing paper, Radicalisation on British University Campuses: a case study, was published this morning and is now available for download here. The report uses the events at City University in London during the last academic year (Sept 09 – June 10) to show how a mainstream academic institution in the UK can become an incubator for extremist, intolerant and potentially violent forms of the political ideology of Islamism.

University campuses have been recognised by policy-makers as key places where Islamist ideologies can spread, but the processes of radicalisation involved have often remained unclear. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by identifying the factors on a university campus that may contribute to radicalising an individual towards Islamist-inspired terrorism. Whilst the paper does not suggest that everyone exposed to these factors will become a terrorist, it shows how and why exposure to them can increase the risk of radicalisation towards terrorism as well as illustrating the considerable disruption that such radicalisation can have on campus life.

The paper concludes with specific recommendations for universities, students’ unions and government to prevent similar situations from arising on other university campuses.

‘Radicalisation on British University Campuses’ is the latest of Quilliam’s publications to deal with areas where the risk of radicalisation is either high or is poorly understood. Previous reports released in the last year include studies of radicalisation in prisons and on Arabic-language jihadist websites.

An executive summary is available here.

 
A pdf of the full briefing paper can be downloaded here.

The report was covered in yesterday's Sunday Times.  To view this article please click here [password required for Times website]

For further information, please contact Lucy James on +44 (0) 207 182 7280 or +44 (0) 7590 229 917.