Description
In this paper, I analyse the evolution of French counterterrorism discourse to see if France’s approach to terrorism affects specific social groups disproportionately. I do so through critical discourse analysis of French counterterrorism legislation and action plans against radicalisation. The evolution of global security narratives has been deeply influenced by the emergence of the concepts of radicalisation and violent extremism, which took over security programmes worldwide, leading to a globalisation of anti-radicalisation programmes. On the contrary, for a long time, France resisted EU efforts to mainstream counterterrorism approaches based on the concept of radicalisation throughout the Union, claiming that “laïcité prevented it from joining the change” (Ragazzi 2022, 4). However, France’s approach to radicalisation changed in 2014 with the publication of the new Anti-Terrorist Action Plan (Plan de Lutte Anti-Terroriste – PLAT) and the 2016 Plan of Action against Radicalisation and Terrorism (Plan d’Action contre la Radicalisation et le Terrorisme – PART). The two plans led to a complete acceptance of the concepts of radicalisation in the French discourse on Islam and terrorism. In 2018, the government presented its new national preventing violent extremism (PVE) plan titled Prévenir Pour Protéger (Prevent to Protect), organised around the collaboration between the central government, territorial authorities (collectivités territoriales) and social workers, targeting youth and poorer social classes through collaboration with youth centres.
By analysing the evolution of French counterterrorism legislation and national PVE plans, I highlight how French anti-radicalisation measures exacerbate pre-existing religious, ethnic and class divisions.
