AFFECT-2 : Phase 2

The evolving trend of deadly terrorist attacks carried out across Europe in the last 15 years has contributed to impose the issue of violent extremism and radicalisation – be it carried out in the name of Islam or originating in far right, far left, anti-Semitic or xenophobic ideologies – as a ruler guide to the European political agenda. To identify, detect and address the underlying factors leading some individuals or groups, in particular among the disenfranchised youth of European cities, to participate in violent acts has become critical for the EU member states. There has recently been considerable political and academic interest in studying radicalisation. Very often, radical, radicalism and radicalisation are used as interchangeable concepts, and as linear processes leading to violence. Yet the threshold between holding radical views and becoming violent is still very much the subject of academic, scientific and political debate, as notions such as radicalism and radicalisation may have contributed to obscure the scope of the debate rather than to clarify it.