Radicals and Reactionaries: The Polarization of Community and Government in the Name of Public Safety and Security

This study focuses on how the UK government fosters counterterrorism measures with the involvement of the public and how the 'suspected community/religion' has been linked to acts of terrorism, radicalism, marginalization as well as extremism.

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RADICALS AND REACTIONARIES
Name
Affiliation
Instructor
Date

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RADICALS AND REACTIONARIES: THE POLARIZATION OF COMMUNITY AND GOVERNMENT
IN THE NAME OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Summary
In recent years, there has been an increase in terrorism, across the globe. As a result,
governments and members of the public have a negative attitude towards terrorism. In the
past, external threats from other countries were taken into consideration but now, internal
threats are being taken into consideration. High profile attacks like the 9/11 and as well as
the 3/11 raised the attention of all countries and superpower nations across the globe. The
United Kingdom has ensured that public security and safety is maintained. It is unfortunate
that governments and security agencies have focused on an ‘evil eye’ on Muslims since
many terrorists claim to be of the religion. This background thus necessitates a study into
how the UK government, especially in London, fosters counterterrorism measures with the
involvement of the public. In addition, the study will focus on how the ‘suspected
community/religion’ has been linked to acts of terrorism, radicalism, marginalization as well
as extremism. In this study, the following factors will be taken into consideration
Social Space
Social space is termed as a virtual or physical space where different people gather so
that they can interact and share views. In recent years, social media and the internet has
been a great weapon in fostering radicalization and terrorism, (Samson, 2019, 10). Research
on the social space will help the research in identifying how this is used to polarize the
communities and the government. Radicalization and polarization have been aided by the
affordability, convenience as well as broad reach of certain social media platforms such as

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Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. These platforms have been used by terrorist groups and
extremists to spread their goals and messages as well as recruiting sympathizers. This
research will be aided by studying social factor and how it associates with the research topic
Habitués Factor:
Personal life experiences of individuals have the capacity to shape one’s skills,
dispositions and habits. This is a concept that was coined by Bourdieau to show how cultural
capital exists in the society. As such, the way people look at the social environment around
them and form reactions towards it is called habitus factor. The social structure is thus
crated by how individuals relate to habits and skills that are around them. In the real
environment, solutions are created so that they can solve certain problems in the society.
This is done without any form of calculation- but with the help of intuitions and feelings for
what is best for the society.
Capital Factor:
The capital factor is an essential factor for any research. For successful research, one
has to take into consideration the available funds so that materials and logistics will be
catered for. In regards to radicals and reactionaries, it is well known that governments and
their agencies spend a lot in trying to detect and deter acts of polarization in the country. A
better understanding of capital factor will be instrumental in making the research
successful.

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Field Factor:
Field factor cannot be avoided in any research. In this scenario, the collection of data
and information will come from the public and the government. Individuals will be
interviewed about polarization, security matters and radicalization being faced by the public
and the government. Similarly, government entities such as the law enforcers, judicial
departments, fire departments, and security experts will be involved in the research.
Social Spaces for Data Collection
As illustrated earlier, social spaces mainly include the virtual and physical spaces
where people gather so that they can share information. In this research, data collection will
be done in social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn whereas the
physical spaces will include lecture halls, municipal halls and community centers where the
public usually gathers.
Barriers in Consideration or Aware of
Barriers always exist when one is conducting research. These barriers may range from
lack of sufficient literature about the topic, financial problems, difficulty in getting interview
spaces with leaders and fear amongst the public. However, these are detailed barriers.
 Getting appointments for interviews with the counter-terrorism police department
It is well known that leaders are always occupied or are not interested in meeting certain
people. In these cases, Counterterrorism police officers are the best-suited people to
answer questions about terrorism, radicalization, and polarization. In situations where

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appointments are set, they may be canceled at any time or the time allocated for them are
not sufficient to gather tangible information, (Zinovyeva & Shabalina, 2018, 82). At times,
these leaders do not divulge the correct figures or fear giving out investigative information
hence handling them as secret information. In the end, the research may take longer than
anticipated.
 Refusal because of privacy issues
Members of the public may have difficulty in giving information because of fear. Radicals
and terrorist leaders are well known and have ‘connections’. Anyone seen giving out
information about them may be killed or isolated. As a result, the research becomes hard to
conduct due to unreliable members of the public.
 Ethical issues
The research will consider the observation of ethical issues. This includes respecting the
research participant’s privacy and desires not to be asked certain questions. In some cases,
however, a researcher may need more explanations about certain factors and this may
show him as being too inquisitive or adamant, (Guerrero, 2017, 245). It is essential to
respect one’s views hence avoiding ethical issues
 Time factor
Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, the research will require more than five
months. Rescheduling of appointments, logistic issues, and availability of finances will
determine whether the research will take longer or not. For a better collection of
information, it is essential to give each step of the research the most sufficient time.
 Cultural and diversity problems

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The United Kingdom has many people from different cultures and nationalities. This
leads to the existence of the language barrier as a problem, (Wicks, et al., 2018, 8655). In
addition, different cultures have a different understanding of polarization and radicalization.
As a result, a wide range of data may be collected this making it difficult to identify certain
trends and leads towards answering the research questions.
 Financial issues
Financial issues are a major factor in research. It is essential to consider this factor
before research undertakes research, (Bubeck & Marinov, 2017, 238). In this case,
movement from one department to the other, city to city and visiting public places require
sufficient finances. Research materials such as papers, books, pens, and other stationery
supplies have to be factored in. as such, it is safe to have a rough estimate of about 1,000
GBP.
 Geographical problems
This problem is associated with where the research will be conducted. This entails
moving from one location to the other in the search of information. Logistics play a key role
here in the quest for collecting data and information, (Fergie et al., 2018, 12). However, it is
essential to select places that are close and those that provide more information or clues
about polarization and radicalization.
Consideration for data accessibility
 Ethical considerations
Ethical standards must be upheld when doing any research. To start with, it is essential
to approach any person in a good way so that he or she can open up and provide the

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desired information, (Wilson, 2017, 235). Participants should be thanked when they agree
to participate in the research and this also applies to government agencies. Religions have
to be respected too because this entails conducting research in different religious groups
found in the United Kingdom.
 Consent
Consent will be essential in the research. This consists of acceptance by participants to
take part in the research, as well as consent from the University’s research department and
head of the department to conduct the research, (Banks & Carpenter, 2017, 228). In
situations where funds have been provided by certain groups, their consent to use the funds
should also be taken into consideration. In short, consent will consist of permission to
conduct any activity that relates to the research.
 Confidentiality
Private information must be kept private. Participants’ names will not be revealed so
that confidentiality is upheld. This also links to privacy, (Bellaby, 2019, 65).
 Professional separation
The research will categorize all professions that will be involved in the research. Issues
affecting different heads of departments will be handled differently, (Byrne & Hansen, 2017,
25). This also includes the views of professionals such as security experts, community
leaders, and politicians. In the end, it will be established whether different professionals
have similar or different views about polarization and radicalization.
 Anonymity

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Staying anonymous is a subject to be discussed by the participants. This relates to how
one will desire to reveal his or her identity for the purpose of referencing his comments in
the research, (Silverman, 2017, 1092). It is a cardinal rule however, that participant’s names
are hidden so that anonymity is maintained.
 Environmental factor
The research will take into consideration conducting the research in a safe and secure
environment, (Weeks, 2018, 10). The research will be conducted in private and public places
depending on the participant’s choice. Certain participants may want to be interviewed in
secret locations while others do not mind taking part in public places such as lecture halls or
community halls.

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