Terrorism and radicalization: Pedagogical positionings

Abstract

Terrorism is a phenomenon that must be considered present even in those phases in which it does not manifest itself in a tragic and evident way. In recent decades, the prevalent terrorism has been referred to the Islamic tradition, affecting global scenarios and also manifesting itself in Western countries, intertwining with other processes, such as asymmetric globalization, the increase in inequalities, the westernization of the world.

It is a phenomenon that must also be analyzed pedagogically, paying particular attention to the processes of radicalization, meant as the set of experiences that lead the people involved to adhere to terrorist ideologies and methods. This analysis must be carried out in particular in urban areas characterized by strong economic and social marginalization, where sympathies and adherence to terrorism can develop, especially among people whose family history includes migrations from Islamic countries.

The territory is considered the place where global dynamics and general phenomena find their expression in the “here and now” of their daily materiality and become lived life: from international migrations to the delocalization processes, from cultural homologation to the movements of resistance to such homologation

Terrorism also develops in opposition to modernity, and in these terms it can be associated with every form of integralism that refers to a past characterized by a presumed communitarian dimension of material and spiritual union among people. Central pedagogical issue become the belonging and the educational processes that can strengthen or weaken the sense of belonging. What is hoped for is an education that will provide subjects with tools to unveil and critique their own belongings and seek radical and non-terrorist ways of criticizing the present.