The Urban Environment: Mirror and mediator of radicalisation
Funding
ESRC Grant Reference: RES-181-25-0028
Lead researchers
Principal Investigator: Ralf Brand.
Senior researcher: Sara Fregonese.
Summary
This research project is inspired by the assumption that radicalisation is not an a-spatial or a-material phenomenon. It takes place in streets, apartments, shops or parks and it is materially reflected in fences, buildings, territorial markers etc. But walls, bridges, buildings etc. also exert a gravitational pull on people's perception and behaviour, for example the decision which playground to prefer, where to hide in the event of trouble and the likeliness of meeting 'others'. In short, social conditions and urban environments shape each other.
It seems plausible that such processes are similar, but not identical, in cities with "earlier" and "new" patterns of radicalisation. A systematic assessment of this assumption would help a wide range of actors – who will be proactively involved in the research process – to create cities that facilitate amicable encounters between different groups, thereby tackling some of the many conditions of stereotypisation and radicalisation.
We therefore aim to map existing knowledge in various disciplines about these dynamics and we investigate the ground-level situation in four cities: Belfast and Beirut as examples of "earlier" patterns of contestation and Berlin and Amsterdam as examples of "new" patterns of radicalisation in the form of Neo-Nazi mobilisation and extremist tendencies among Muslim youths, respectively.
Further information
For further information on the URBE project see:
Budget
Award/Grant Amount £168,000.
Full economic costing £208, 000.
Contact
Email: Ralf Brand