13:30 - 15:00
Room: Muirhead – Room 121
Stream: Open Stream
When Comrades Become Radicalized: Students’ Fears, Everyday Relations and Perceptions of Security in Moi University, Kenya
Bernard Musembi
University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg

Over the recent past, radicalization into violent extremism has attracted the attention of both policy makers and scholars following the emergence of extremist groups such as ISIS, al-Shabaab and Boko Haram among many others. Most studies on radicalization have mostly focused on the drivers of radicalization. This study however departs from this trend by looking at how radicalization processes, whether real or perceived, affects the everyday lived experiences of people in areas not considered as the ‘traditional recruitment grounds’. It particularly looks at how feelings of fear circulate and affect social relationships in common public spaces. Using the case study of Moi University in Kenya, this study offers an account of how radicalization into violent extremism in Kenya has shifted to non-traditional areas such as Universities and how such practices affect the daily lives of students within campus. Findings from the study show that financial motivations and peer pressure are the biggest drivers to student radicalization. In addition, the findings show that the increasing spread of radicalization to universities has not only affected how students relate with another but also led them to devise survival mechanisms in the event of an attack, thus illustrating their skepticism of existing security measures.


Reference:
We-OS6 Violence at SA Unis 1-P-003
Presenter/s:
Bernard Musembi
Presentation type:
Panel
Room:
Muirhead – Room 121
Date:
Wednesday, 12 September
Time:
14:00 - 14:15
Session times:
13:30 - 15:00