Criminal Justice Policy Transfer and Prison Counter-Radicalization: Examining Canadian Participation in the Roma-Lyon Group

Abstract

Threats of radicalization have become dominant tropes for Western security agencies. Th is article examines eff orts to address radicalization in the penal setting. Examining the prison counter-radicalization project directed by the secretive G8 Roma-Lyon Group, the article details Canadian participation on the basis of wanting to acquire counter-radicalization best practices from abroad. Contributing to criminal justice policy transfer studies, the article highlights disjunctures between reforms programs driven by powerful actors and particular contexts where these prescribed policy reforms take shape. Characterizing the Roma-Lyon Group as a venue for norm-makers such as the United States and the United Kingdom, and Canada as a norm-taker, the article traces the transfer of counter-radicalization practices from the transnational to the national level. Underlining how the replication of counter-radicalization policies fi ts into trends of precautionary risk and governing through insecurity, the article concludes by highlighting what the transfer of prisoner radicalization policy means for future socio-legal research.

A Literature Review on Indonesia’s Deradicalization Program for Terrorist Prisoners

“…For example, the Netherlands had only five terrorism prisoners in 2010 49 , while Australia held 21 convicted terrorists in 2011, 50 and Canada held 18 convicted terrorists in 2015. 51 Despite these relatively small totals, Andrew Silke argues that "when such prisoners do start to appear in the prison system their impact can be out of all proportion to their number", a concern that raises the issue of recruitment and radicalization of 'ordinary' prisoners. 52 Similarly, with respect to suspected terrorists, Alec Walen has argued that "they are predicted to pose a threat larger than that of almost all other criminals".…”

Contesting Power: A Comparison of Muslim Civil Society Responses to Counter-Radicalization Policies in Canada and the U.K.

“…In sum, this period marked the beginning of Canadian security agencies acknowledging and formulating the problem of 'radicalization.' The conception of 'radicalization' adopted by Canada, as an ideological transformation toward 'violent extremism,' was influenced by the U.K.'s definition (Monaghan, 2015). Yet, as policies travel as "selective discourses" and "inchoate ideas," Canada did not fully replicate U.K.'s CR approach but rather selectively plucked some paradigms and practices, such as "Prevent" (Peck & Theodore, 2010).…”