Against the Grain

Community-Level Counterterrorism

“Countering violent extremism” is a U.S. government program aimed at combatting homegrown terrorism. It enlists teachers, service providers, and religious leaders in U.S. communities to monitor and report on young people deemed vulnerable to terrorist radicalization. But according to Nicole Nguyen, CVE asks teachers and others to take on policing functions and criminalizes Muslim youth.

Nicole Nguyen, Suspect Communities: Anti-Muslim Racism and the Domestic War on Terror University of Minnesota Press, 2019