Lauren Halloran, IPD ’18

Search for Common Ground

The field of violent extremism suffers from murky and hard to translate definitions making the process of addressing it within communities difficult. In addition, the field faces the politicization and securitization of responses, stigma, and outright dismissal by some governments. However, the issue of violent extremism and terrorism impacts countries around the world and has been an important topic for governments since well before the 2001 attacks on the world trade centers. As an intern with Search for Common Ground (Search) I learned from the ground up the issues facing Kenya in terms of violent extremism and the approaches that development organizations like Search have used. My interest in beginning this internship was the conflict resolution approaches employed by Search to address a sensitive topic like violent extremism (VE). However, after doing more research, meeting government officials, NGO leaders, and community members my interest expanded to include the impact of the international response and the national response on communities.

My time with Search focused on the programming side of their work. With three active programs (two just starting up and one closing out) I was put to use assisting partners in the start-up and close-out phases. This allowed me the opportunity to get to know the partner organization’s staff and the work they’re doing. Search is partnered with five organizations (spread across their three programs) who work in Human Rights, Participatory Theater, and Youth Engagement – in various ways their work has put them in touch with the populations that are most vulnerable to VE recruitment. As such they are at the forefront of addressing the issue in Coastal Kenya. From these organizations I learned of the importance of supporting trusted civil society organizations (CSOs) and community based organizations (CBOs) in implementing VE programming in local communities. One of the key issues in addressing VE is being able to identify and reach the ‘at-risk’ populations.[2] In communities that are distrustful of outsiders it is imperative to have already established connections within the neighborhoods and communities at risk to use to implement targeted programming to prevent/counter violent extremism (P/CVE). In Kenya, the conflict drivers were defined differently within each community highlighting the second lesson that I learned during my time with Search. Motivators driving individuals to VE groups vary based on individual context. An often-cited example is poverty and unemployment – these two issues are commonly highlighted as key VE drivers, however, not everyone who lives in poverty and is unemployed is recruited into VE groups. The ‘catalyzing’ factors are different for each person and community. Often mentioned within the Kenyan context, marginalization, oppression, corruption, and a lack of knowledge around how to address these grievances tend to coalesce to create increased vulnerability of recruitment. Without a different way to address their grievance, individuals who are experiencing marginalization, unemployment, oppression, and poverty turn to the VE recruiters who promise a solution, economic incentives, and the opportunity to become a hero.

Another key lesson came from a literature review I conducted on the field of preventing/countering violent extremism with a particular focus on the Kenyan context. Research conducted by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation highlighted a unique issue that Search has peripherally noticed in our baseline and conflict scans. Mainly that violent extremism is defined within communities differently than media and political leaders define it. For many communities the definition of violent extremism does not have to do with the ideology of the group attacking them, or their goals in engaging in violence, but the feeling of insecurity and the use of violence – essentially to community members violence against civilians is, itself, extreme. This illuminated a bit of the frustrations I have with the field of ‘countering violent extremism’ and the label of VE. From the work that I was doing, the varied definitions that I found, and the rhetoric coming from my own country I was frustrated with the way violence is politicized. For instance, why mass shooters in the U.S. are not labeled violent extremists when they aren’t linked to an extremist group. Inherently I do know that this has to do with the politicization of the term VE and the field of CVE, however, it is still frustrating to see the way this politicization impacts communities who see any type of violence against civilians as extreme.

“Attending a conference on Women in CVE on behalf of Search for Common Ground in Mombasa, Kenya to discuss the various roles women play in preventing/countering violent extremism and the ways in which women are recruited for VE.”

My work with Search built on my existing knowledge gained through academic work at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS). Through courses that critically analyzed the development field I could take a critical eye to the way development work was being implemented to address VE in coastal Kenya. Courses that provided a background in conflict resolution, which helped me to analyze the factors contributing to conflict in coastal Kenya, also provided a base from which to understand Search’s research.  My work also involved assisting in the designing of a combined baseline study for two of our programs, knowledge from MIIS on DME helped me to assist the team in framing questions and surveys. Overall this experience helped me to understand P/CVE approaches from the perspective of Coastal Kenya but rooted in the global context and trends in the field while proving the opportunity to build on key skills to pursue a career in the field.

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