Radicalization discourse was built to serve counterterrorism policy, not science.

Evidence

In short, while white supremacists are allowed to train with guns at sites all over the United States, a Muslim American who acquires a weapon is deemed suspicious. As Targeted and Entrapped notes, the “evidence” that is routinely used in court cases to prove radicalization and a predisposition to commit violence by Muslims includes items such as violent videos, radical religious speeches, or weapons. Kundnani’s analysis of various radicalization theories leads him to the conclusion that “radicalization discourse was, from the beginning, circumscribed to the demands of counterterrorism policy makers rather than an attempt to objectively study how terrorism comes into being.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 599 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Statistically, Americans are more likely to die from a bolt of lightning than from an act of “terror.” The focus on “radicalized” Muslim Americans serves not to keep the American people safe, but to whip up a sense of fear and paranoia which can then be used to squash dissent and win consent for violations of civil liberties at home and wars abroad. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 32 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Muslim radicalization discourse was built to serve counterterrorist policy, not to explain terrorism.; Radicalization theory was designed to serve counterterrorism policy, not truth — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 599; Culture talk explains terrorism as flowing from cultural essence rather than economics or politics. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 77 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Muslim radicalization discourse was built to serve counterterrorist policy, not to explain terrorism. #corroborates (1.00)
• Radicalization theory was designed to serve counterterrorism policy, not truth #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 599
• The radicalized Muslim threat narrative is a fear instrument rather than a safety measure #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 32
• Terrorism studies situate the cause of violence in the terrorist psyche, not politics #complicates (0.72)
• Counter-radicalization conflates perpetrators’ religion with causes of terrorism. #complicates (0.72) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 946
• Culture talk explains terrorism as flowing from cultural essence rather than economics or politics. #complicates (0.70) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 77