Convivial and informal encounters with de-radicalisation

Abstract

Our piece raises a conceptual issue with regards to how migration and deradicalization literature conform with each other in ways that they depict and deal with the self/other dichotomy. Both also aim at “integrating” the “other” through policy-oriented formal mechanisms. The deviance from the normal, evinced by the self/other dichotomisation in these literature, presents who is not ‘us’ as the wayward other. In return, the following migration and deradicalization policies both introduce disciplining mechanisms to make societies homogenous and align the “other” with the existing nation-state structures. Instead, we propose that societies have a non-binary composition, and they cannot be pushed in becoming homogenous entities. This piece contributes to deradicalization literature by foregrounding the importance of informal engagements rather than policy-focused formal processes of deradicalization. In conclusion, we show the importance of the ordinary and the convivial activities to achieve inclusion.