Failed and Friendless – the UK’s ‘Preventing Violent Extremism programme.

PVE Extremism Terrorism Cohesion Multiculturalism

This article suggests that Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), the government’s ‘hearts and minds’ response to the threat of domestic Islamist terrorism within the wider CONTEST strategy, has been exposed as both failed and friendless by growing political and academic scrutiny. PVE’s monocultural focus on Muslims is in stark contradiction to the overriding policy goal of community cohesion, whilst its implementation has provoked accusations both of surveillance and of engineering ‘value changes’ within Muslim communities.