Alternative Approaches to Transforming Violent Extremism. The Case of Islamic Peace and Interreligious Peacebuilding

This article critically examines the emerging CVE/PVE field and explores an alternative approach to address two core questions: how do various CVE/PVE approaches relate to current issues of violent extremism (VE) in Muslim communities, and what are the areas of intersection between interreligious peacebuilding and the various CVE/PVE approaches? In exploring the responses to these two dimensions, it is essential to analyse the assumptions and functions that CVE/PVE fulfil in the current crisis that faces many Muslim and non-Muslim governments around the world, especially in Europe and North America. Since “countering Islamic” terrorism and VE (based on the misperception and assumption that Muslims are disproportionately responsible for acts of violence) constitute the core of CVE/PVE approaches, it is necessary to explore whether this is the most effective method in confronting “Islamic threats”.

Authors

Mohammed Abu-Nimer