Read on Twitter
Looking at the thread between @PeterRNeumann and @AsimCP and @Tarek_Younis_ (and many others), I ask of them and #AcademicTwitter (rhetorically!): should there be clearly defined ethical rules of conduct on Twitter for academics? 1/7
This thread highlights its possible implications to the P/CVE research field. There is no doubt of a perceived divide in the UK, between pro/anti-Prevent in the P/CVE field which fits into wider politicised narratives seemingly dividing counter-terrorism studies and 2/7
its critical counterparts focused on its unintended effects on social stigmatisation and securitisation of front-line work. This thread does not explain these debates. Rather, the negative effects such threads on Twitter potentially have on P/CVE practices of youth workers 3/7
and front-line workers, as they enhance perceptions of divide in their field. It adds tension and anxiety to their everyday practices, and it even help shape their pathways to funding and local networks (my data shows). I have seen (anecdotally) how the themes in such threads 4/7
permeate the everyday discourse of these P/CVE workers. As they often follow and have to maintain up-to-date nuanced opinions about the academic and policy narratives that drive their everyday practices, I urge academia in this field to be particularly mindful of driving 5/7
these debates to academic and political settings and not in public spheres such as Twitter (as they enhance a perception of divide); where lines between opinion/ideology, academic/personal, professional/bias are thinned out. Otherwise it counters valuable efforts to reduce 6/7
radicalisation and other wider social harms such as racism (including Islamophobia). We need to be respectful and mindful of our position, specially well positioned academics. 7/7
