Non-violent extremism

"Non-violent extremism" (extremism, enemy image, Orwellian language)
File:Non violent extremism.jpg
An enemy image used to try to justify violent repression of those who advocate non-violent change.

"Non violent extremism" is an enemy image currently being developed in UK for use against proponents of non-violence. It was launched in January 2011, 5 years after the phrase "violent extremism" was introduced in the wake of the 7/7 bombings. In 2015, UK Prime Minister Theresa May claimed that when {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Non-violent extremism |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Theresa May|+sep=, |Has text=“non-violent extremism goes unchallenged, the values that bind our society together fragment.” |Is about=Non-violent extremism,|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=2015 |Sourced from= |Has sourceDetails= |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName= |Has sourceURL= }}“non-violent extremism goes unchallenged, the values that bind our society together fragment.” In 2017, the conservative government were experiencing difficulties in using this phrase legislatively, due to its incompatibility with more long established traditions such as freedom of speech and human rights.

Origins

The phrase "violent extremism" was launched in July 2005. "Non violent extremism" was launched in January 2011, according to Google trends data.

File:Google trend non-violent extremism.png

File:Nve shirt.jpg

Ian Fantom with a shirt declaring that "I am a non-violent extremist". The obverse reads "9/11 and 7/7 were staged."

Association with Violent extremism

{{#subobject: |Has superobject=Non-violent extremism |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Alex P. Schmid|+sep=, |Has text=“It can even be argued that ‘non-violent extremism’ is a contradiction in terms. While there can be non-violent and violent radicals, it makes, in my view and based on the distinction between radicalism and extremism elaborated above, less sense to distinguish between violent and non-violent extremists.” |Is about=Non-violent extremism,non-violent extremism, violent extremism, extremism|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=March 2013 |Sourced from=Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review |Has sourceDetails=p. 16 |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName=Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review |Has sourceURL=

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“It can even be argued that ‘non-violent extremism’ is a contradiction in terms. While there can be non-violent and violent radicals, it makes, in my view and based on the distinction between radicalism and extremism elaborated above, less sense to distinguish between violent and non-violent extremists.”
Alex P. Schmid (March 2013) 

Alex Schmid published a paper in 2014 which stated that the distinction between "violent extremism" and "non-violent extremism" was illegitimate.

Legislative problems

The Guardian reported in 2017 on the UK Government's plans to ban "non-violent extremism" by citing an anonymous "source close to the process" that "The bill is sinking without trace. They cannot get a working definition of extremism – lawyers are effectively saying it's incompatible with issues like free speech".

References