ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on whether counter-radicalization and deradicalization are effective antidotes to extremism. It develops a perspective on counter-radicalization and deradicalization that avoids the foundational myths of the former and the limitations of country-specific accounts of the latter. A key idea in this connection is that of a strategic narrative. Strategic narratives are ‘compelling story lines which can explain events convincingly and from which inferences can be drawn’. The need for such narratives has been recognized but the weakness of the counter-narratives that have been proposed is an indication of the inherent difficulty of coming up with plausible counter-narratives and a failure to grasp the full force of extremist narratives. Given the relationship of mutual dependence between a person’s mindset and their ideology, one would expect effective anti-extremist counter-narratives to have an impact on a person’s extremist mindset.
