Working Group on Hate, Polarisation and Violent Extremism

This working group will look for restorative justice experiences to better respond to these types of conflicts/ violence/ crimes: polarisation, hate crime and violent extremism. 

The purpose is to:

• Take a systematic approach to understanding existing restorative approaches, research and practice to polarisation, hate crime and violent extremism in Europe (and beyond);
• Develop proposals about what good practice looks like when addressing polarisation, hate crime and violent extremism (with a potential for designing training products);

Discuss and explore the unique dynamics of hate crime, polarisation and violent extremism, how it is related to power structures in society, and develop questions (and answers) about how to move towards a restorative service of equality.

This working group will:

1. Engage with organisations/ institutions beyond usual RJ networks (from high security prisons hosting people with radicalised behaviors to organisations working with migrants and refugees to faith institutions).
2. Gather evidence about the justice needs for these different types of target groups and see if and how RJ could support.
3. Engage with RJ community and EFRJ members to gather evidence about profile and competence in these cases through calls for evidence and roundtables.
4. Publish report(s) for the EFRJ on good practice and policy recommendations.
5. Consider proposing a training programme (e.g. Summer School or a course within the Winter Academy, or online), focusing on how to address prejudice/ stigmatisation/ polarisation within RJ practices to prevent acts of extreme violence from occurring.

Clair Aldington, Scotland

Emanuelle Crane, France

Anne Lemonne, Belgium

Maria Cielo Linares, Colombia

Emilie Matignon, France

Monica Morris, UK

Rebecca Spencer-Smith, UK

Elena Vasconcellos Funcia Lemme, Brazil

Gaetane Zeegers, Belgium

Chair: Lucy Jaffe, UK
Vice-chair: Miriam Attias, Finland
Coordinator: Emanuela Biffi, programme coordinator
Board representative: Antonio Buonatesta

History of the working group

The Working Group on Violent Extremism (2019-2022) worked together for almost 3 years, including the challenging years of the Covid-19 pandemic, when face-to-face meetings where prohibited. The topic was launched by the EFRJ Secretariat and Board because of the increasing practices and research in terms of restorative justice in cases of violent extremism, terrorism, political violence and radicalisation. Some of the group members (i.e. Lucy Jaffe and Miriam Attias) proposed to continue this work enralrging it also to the phases prior to the actual acts of extreme violence, such as polarisation and hate. A call for members was launched at the end of 2022 o establish the new Working Group on Hate, Polarisation and Violent Extremism, with a two year mandate (2023-2024).