Renounce or Perish

Abstract

This study explores the politics of engagement in community- based approaches to countering radicalization in Canada with the intent of shedding light on the complexities that surround its application vis-a- vis Muslim youth. A host of activities characterize prevailing community- engaged approaches to countering radicalization in Canada. This article chooses to critique the Canadian state’s latest ventures in the arena of educational awareness intended to expose Muslim youth to counter- radicalization narratives. As per the tenets of critical race theory, this article rejects the myth of emancipatory governance upon which contemporary policy narratives in Canada are founded. Instead, these activities are viewed through the prism of Etienne Balibar’s neo- racism. This article understands youth- targeted community engagement as a form of policed multiculturalism that exploits minority groups under the guise of empowerment. The article illustrates this through its critical deconstruction of the children’s comic book Radicalishow, an educational output produced by the Montreal Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization. Borrowing from the teachings of Edward Said’s Orientalism, this article argues that Radicalishow exemplifies and perpetuates centuries old patterns of domination between the occident and the orient through its active construction of the Muslim as the dangerous and nefarious other in need of watching, rehabilitation and control.