On 28th November 2019, Dr. Anna Novikov participated in the Autumn Talks 2019 symposium "Escaping the Spiral of Violence: Prevention of Radicalization in Eastern and Western Europe", which took place in the Rotes Rathaus Berlin.
The symposium was dedicated to the possibilities of preventive work against the acts of violence, which have devastating consequences for social cohesion, public security and the individuals involved, in order to avoid their apparent escalation spiral. These possibilities were discussed both from the scientific and the civil society comparative perspective, focusing on the Eastern and Western European political, social and religious specifics.
Dr. Julian Junk, the head of the Leipniz Research Group “Radicalization” and the head of the Berlin Office of the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in his introduction lecture discussed the ambivalent meaning of the phenomenon of radicalisation and focused on its characteristics as well on its social perception. His lecture was followed by reactions from the Eastern and Western European experts from Germany and Russia.
The following parallel discussion forums focused on the development of prevention work in France, Germany and Russia against the escalating radicalization, on the preventive work done in urban and rural context done by specialists from various fields, who substitute the falling role of traditional state and religious institutions. Last but not least, these forums focused on the prevention methods in the digital age and discussed the strategies used by the nowadays radical movements and the options of opposition against the extremist right wing and the radical Islamist propaganda done by the Western European and Eastern European experts.
The clothing discussion focused on the future strategies and possibilities of the prevention work done in a cooperation between Eastern and Western Europe.
Text: Anna Novikov