VORTEX – Coping with Varieties of Radicalization into Terrorism and Extremism

In her dissertation, Lotta Rahlf examines the institutionali­zation of evaluation and quality assurance in the prevention of extremism in twelve European countries. The doctoral project analyzes how and why European states use evaluation to varying degrees as an instrument of both external control (for example in funding structures) and self-regulation (as part of political strategies). 

Theoretically, the work combines approaches from gover­nance, institutio­nalization and evaluation research and develops an analytical frame­work to systematically and comparatively map and explain national differences in the institu­tionalization of evaluation and quality assurance. Empirically, the study includes a comparative overview of twelve European countries and the embedding of evaluation and quality assurance in funding structures and political strategies for the prevention of extremism. In addition, a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) will be carried out to identify necessary and sufficient conditions as well as in-depth analyses of Germany and Norway. 

The project makes a relevant contribution to research and practice in three respects: It offers a theoretically sound and operationalizable concept for the institutionalization of evaluation in the prevention of extremism, a comparative empirical mapping of the prevention of extremism and its evaluation structures, and a methodological innovation through the linking of QCA and process tracing. The dissertation is being written as part of the EU-funded Marie Skło­dowska-Curie doctoral network VORTEX and thus also makes a contribution to the evidence-based design of European extremism prevention.

This dissertation challen­ges a common assumption: that support and control are opposites. In practice, the two often overlap wherever norms are re­inforced, such as in the prevention of violent extremism (P/CVE). This overlap has sparked debates over the securitization of P/CVE: while some criticize the push of security measures into peda­gogical and social work, others acknowledge the entangle­ment of support and control as inherent to it. The disser­tation takes up this debate and develops a support-control frame­work to examine how the two combine in prevention practice. It distin­guishes four types of prevention that combine high or low degrees of control with high or low degrees of support. This frame­work offers a new lens on conven­tional prevention models: rather than sorting measures only by their aim and timing, it also captures how they are imple­mented and what effects they produce. Using a compa­rative case study design, the dissertation examines prevention in schools (support-oriented settings) and prisons (control-oriented settings), drawing on inter­views with practitioners to trace how different combinations of support and control emerge. It explores how practi­tioners negotiate opportunities and needs and ultimately imple­ment these programmes across different contexts. Part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network VORTEX, it offers insight into the design and delivery of pre­vention and thus holds both theo­retical and practical relevance.