‘Outsourcing patriarchy’ in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE)

Abstract

In recent years, many Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) programs, formed to counter radicalisation into ‘jihadist’ extremism, have begun to address far-right extremism. In this paper, we critically assess this expansion through a focus on masculinities. We conduct an in-depth intersectional analysis of representations of masculinities in 87 publications by ten influential organisations working in transnational P/CVE. We explore how these representations intersect with identity markers of race, age, class and geographic location and how they are connected to notions about gendered and political violence as systemic or aberrant. We relate this to an underlying dynamic which Inderpal Grewal has termed ‘outsourcing patriarchy’, a move which aligns patriarchal and misogynist ideas with the Non-West. Our analysis shows that despite efforts to overcome both gender-blindness and the singular focus on ‘jihadist’ extremism, P/CVE programs still tend to be based on notions of masculinities that perpetuate patriarchal and colonial legacies.