Description
The potential expansion of violent extremism from Sahelian states to the broader region, specifically to coastal West African countries, has recently become a key policy concern. While it is often assumed to mainly be a priority for international security policy, the narrative of a likely “spillover” into coastal West Africa has equally drawn a multiplicity of West African regional, national, and local actors into the governance of violent extremism. Drawing on empirical insights generated through several months of field research conducted in 2023, the paper explores the emerging governance of violent extremism in Ghana. In so doing, I employ the concept of anticipatory governance in order to analyse how to govern something that is not there yet. I explore the competing knowledges and rationales as to how, with whom, and for what end to govern violent extremism in Ghana, demonstrating the multiple actors involved as well as contestations, especially locally, around just how to do “good” prevention and counter-terrorism action on the ground. Given that Ghana’s case is one of counter-terrorism without terrorism (yet), it provides important insights on the politics, logics, as well as localised effects of the multi-scalar and multi-actor governance of violent extremism.
