CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Koppe, Celeste Rose |
|---|---|
| Title | Countering Terrorism or Undermining Democracy? Locating Civil Society in EU Counter Terrorism Strategies |
| Summary | Friend, enemy, instrument, or partner? What is the role of civil society in the EU’s fight against terrorism? Recently, think tanks, governments, and international institutions have prescribed a strong and active civil society as the ultimate strategy for preventing terrorism and radicalization. Meanwhile, even though scholars have analysed a plethora of possible strategies for preventing and deterring terrorism, this assumed utility of civil society has been largely ignored in academic literature. To address this question, this study thus seeks to understand the ways in which policymakers working within EU institutions perceive the role of civil society in counter terrorism efforts while engaging civil society in their counterterrorism strategies. Subsequently, this analysis follows these intentions through to the documentation stage of EU counter terrorism initiatives involving civil society actors and organizations. Document analysis informed by in-depth interviews with representatives from EU institutions and the civil society organizations working with the EU is carried out to understand their plans and actions. Writing specifically with evidence-based policies in mind, this paper finds that the most effective role for civil society in counter terrorism is inherent in its purpose and that mobilizing civil society to focus on terrorism has the potential to be counterproductive. |
| Supervisor | Bogaards, Matthijs |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/koppe_celeste.pdf |
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