‘Dual Use Research of Concern’ and ‘Select Agents’

Alison Scott-Baumann

doi:10.1163/22117954-12341373

Abstract

AbstractCreating a suspect community is a time-consuming task and requires persistence. Once achieved, it is difficult to undo. In security terms, inspiring fear of dual use is one of many successful methods used to create suspicion. The concept of dual use research of concern (DURC) is the idea that scientific knowledge can be created by the worthy, stolen by the malevolent and used to make war on the innocent. On campus, ideas about Islam are currently often viewed as if Islam epitomisesDURC. By this means, a Derridean binary opposition springs up between Islam and the rest, whereby that-which-is-Islam is demeaned and the ‘rest’ is privileged. This emanates from political intervention on campus and creates a risk-averse ‘othering’ approach to students’ interaction with Islam and Muslims and the Western world. In order to demonstrate how this political intervention influences the university curriculum and university life on campus, the termdual usewill function here as a heuristic: the ‘metaphor’ ofDURCshows how certain government ideologies are being used on campus to ‘weaponise’ ideas about Islam as if they are malevolent. Using a complementary and mutually enhancing combination of philosophy, empirical research and policy analysis, three positive solutions are proposed that show how important it is that academics be aware of national policy: first, in order to make people cognisant of the urgent need to offer alternatives to the British counter terrorism programme ‘Prevent’ and the work of the Charity Commission with student societies; second, to support the work of academic subject associations; and third, to create a useful debate about free speech.

Highlights

I shall demonstrate by analysis of the philosophy of social science that considerable threats have been made against Islam on campus and against free speech in general
Three of our major assertions are: first, that religious beliefs are known to animate the lives of many and that they should be studied and accepted on university campuses, as long as their manifestations are within national law; second, we assert that such national laws should be understood and adhered to in order to ensure equality of entitlement and opportunity on campus; third, we value and practise the interdisciplinarity that enriches the social sciences, including here philosophy, religion, sociology and sociology of religion, statistical data analysis and a wide range of qualitative research methods
In March 2018, when the jchr published their own report on freedom of speech on campus, they expressed broad confidence in the ability of student unions to regulate free speech on campus and asked the Charity Commission to loosen its hold upon student unions

Summary

10 Positive Steps

Occupying the interstices of already impoverished university curricula is not good enough; the study of Islam and Muslims needs to stretch out. A way to counteract this is through academic subject associations and activist groups, which, on their own terms, study the historical aspects of Islam and Muslim cultures and the struggles presented to us all by modernity: this is valuable work and research findings that can benefit modern Muslims seeking to tread a path between traditional faith and secular modernity need to move beyond the halls of an academic conference. One reason why this is hard to achieve is an ontological one: in the durc version of the hermeneutic circle the dominant view depicts Islam as the problem.

11 Supporting Active Groups

12 Philosophy and Freedom of Expression

13 Conclusions