ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the central principles, actors, and instruments of efforts to promote disengagement from violent extremism in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and to identify strengths and weaknesses that might inform and inspire the efforts of a broader set of countries. It argues that the Scandinavian tradition of institutionalized, cross-governmental efforts to prevent crime, the welfare state, and the emerging willingness of the municipal level to engage with violent extremism, even if this has traditionally been handled by central government security agencies, represent major strengths. Right-wing extremism in Scandinavia in the late 1980s and 1990s was characterized by a move from loosely organized or spontaneous violence targeting immigrants towards more organized and ideologically motivated groups and networks. The engagement of local level government is nevertheless a major organizational and political achievement that positions the Scandinavian countries well to tackle a complex and diverse phenomenon like violent extremism.
