December 2014 TSAS (terrorism, security and society) Newsletter

Source: mass emailing 

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Results of TSAS Call for Proposals Eight projects were funded in our latest Call for Proposals. The abstracts for these projects can be found here. The working papers that result from these projects will be published in 2016. 1. Counter-Terrorism Financing in Canada: Banking Practices. Key Researcher: Anthony Amicelle, École de criminology, Université de Montréal 2. Feeling Accepted: A Protection Against Radicalization among New Canadians? Key Researcher: Antoine Bilodeau, Political Science, Concordia University 3. The experience of Muslim civil society organizations in shaping Canadian antiterrorism law and policy Key Researcher: Tufyal Choudhury, School of Law, Durham University 4. A concurrent evaluation of threat assessment tools for the individual assessment of terrorism Key Researcher: Stephen Hart, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University 5. Exploring Women's Participation in Online Radical Milieus Key Researcher: Laura Huey, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario 6. Crime and Terror: Evidence-based Medicine Key Researcher: Ron Levi, Munk School of Global Affairs and Department of Sociology, University of Toronto 7. The Future of Right-Wing Terrorism in Canada Key Researcher: Richard Parent, Police Studies, Simon Fraser University 8. Terrorism financing in Canada: emergent risks and the effectiveness of existing mechanisms within Canada's anti-terrorism financing regime Key Researcher: Dane Rowlands, The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University for full abstracts, click here » Proposal to SSHRC Partnership Grant program At the end of October 2014, TSAS submitted a proposal entitled "Research on Terrorism, Security and Society in Canada: A Collaborative Approach" to the SSHRC Partnership Grant program, for a total of $2,500,000. We are pleased to report that our partners in government, academia, and the research community have also committed substantial cash and in-kind resources to the project.  If our proposal is successful, SSHRC funding will enable TSAS to exist until 2022. We have many exciting activities planned, including events like workshops and our Summer Academies, Calls for Proposals for Senior Affiliates, and Studentships for Junior Affiliates. An announcement will be circulated once the results are released, in Spring 2015. Visits to Hedayah Hedayah workshop on CVE research November 3-4, 2014 Experts at Hedayah workshop TSAS Co-Director Daniel Hiebert was an invited guest to attend this 2-day workshop meant to help Hedayah define/refine its research priorities. There were about 20 people attending, from about 15 countries, with the UK the most prominent. The first day of the meeting was thematically focused, starting with a brief on the research section of Hedayah and how they are beginning to develop their identity and ways of operating. Then there were three sessions, on: Disengagement and deradicalization; CVE and education systems; and Narratives and counter-narratives. These were based on a literature review that Hedeyah has been developing around these themes. The discussion flowed well and participants made highly informed interventions. Importantly, the group included people from western and Islamic countries, which made for quite interesting dialogue. The second day turned to three sessions on world regions: South/Southeast Asia; Africa; and The Middle East and Central Asia. For each there was an opening statement by a researcher and then more general conversation. Again, there was lots of expertise around the table. Finally the meeting ended on charting research directions. This involved meeting in small breakout groups to consider proposals that had been submitted, or to suggest new directions. TSAS had sent five proposals and two of them were discussed at length. Ultimately 13 research priorities / proposals were defined, based on these conversations. Final Research Briefs can be found here. Hedayah will now consider how to activate these ideas into a program of research. Hedayah Countering Violent Extremism Research Conference December 7-8, 2014 Alex Schmid, James O. Ellis III, and Amarnath Amarasingam In early December, TSAS Research Affiliates participated in the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Research Conference hosted by Hedayah. Conference hosting partners and sponsors included Curtin University, People against Violent Extremism (PaVE), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the US Department of State. The CVE Research Conference 2014 provided a platform for CVE researchers to share the most current, up-to-date analysis of CVE on an international scale. It was designed to open up opportunities to examine the global CVE effort from a wider strategic level, encourage sharing of new approaches and directions in CVE, and coordinate the global CVE efforts for research. Presentations covered CVE research trends in Southeast Asia (including Australia), South and Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North and South America. The Research Conference was followed by a large, 3-day CVE Expo. TSAS was represented by James O Ellis III, Amarnath Amarasingam, and Alexandra Bain. Mr. Ellis presented findings from the 2013-2014 "Right-Wing Extremism in Canada" project, as well as information on the Canadian Incident Database (CIDB). TSAS is exploring collaborative research opportunities and the potential serve as an institutional host for a Hedayah Associate Fellow. to learn more about Hedayah » Report on TSAS Workshop Exploring Legal and Social Dimensions of Radicalization Held in Ottawa and attended by TSAS academic affiliates as well as representatives from seven departments and agencies of the Government of Canada, this one-day workshop examined the legal and social dimensions of radicalization to violence. The first two sessions were designed to support two new TSAS research projects on countering extremist violence, funded by the Canada Safety and Security Program (CSSP): 1) the emerging trend of "foreign fighters"; and 2) the role of online forums in the radicalization process. In addition to these two topics, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) new "Countering Violent Extremism" (CVE) program was presented. A summary of the workshop can be found here. For more info and a summary of the workshop » New blog entries New entries have been posted to the TSAS blog: Launching a Global Security Think Tank: The Institute for 21st Century Questions By Misha Munim, J.D./M.A. Candidate at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. In Defence of Canada's Security and Intelligence Landscape By Carter Brundage, B.Sc. Candidate in International Development at the University of British Columbia I Went to the CDA Institute's Graduate Symposium and So Should You By Dashiell Dronyk, M.A. Candidate at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs The Messy Reality of Lone-Wolf Terrorism By Lorne L. Dawson, PhD Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies, University of Waterloo Co-Director of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society to see full entries, click here » New TSAS Working Papers TSAS has published three working papers since our last newsletter: TSAS WP14-10: Social Perspectives on National Security: A review of recent literature. This review was commissioned by TSAS to survey the ways in which academic researchers have been trying to understand the experiences of exclusion by marginalized youth, and how these might relate to trajectories of radicalization to violent extremism, and community-level security interventions. TSAS WP14-11: Can "Dangerous Speech" be Used in Explaining "Lone-Wolf" Terrorism? "Lone wolf terrorism" challenges security scholars and practitioners alike with its unpredictable and ambiguous nature. One of the greatest of these challenges is contextualizing the part of socialization and indoctrination in such attacks. What role do extremist communities and speech play in shaping the beliefs a "lone wolf" kills for? TSAS WP14-12: Perceptions of Muslim Faith, Ethno-Cultural Community-based and Student Organizations in Countering Domestic Terrorism in Canada What are the perceptions of Muslim community based organizations and university student organization leaders on domestic terrorism and counter-terrorism in Canada and what are their suggestions to prevent radicalization and improve existing counter-terrorism policy? All TSAS working papers can be found here » www.tsas.ca TSAS 1984 West Mall Vancouver, British Columbia Canada V6T 1Z2 This email was created and delivered using Industry Mailout