Radicalization in a Western Context: The Case of Australia

Abstract

Before the end of the 20th century, violent extremism (VEm), or terrorism as we know it today, was virtually non-existent in Australia. This is despite the fact that Australia, in the mid-1970s, opened its doors to immigrants from Muslim states and developed a sizeable Muslim community by the end of the century. Its open-door migrant policy was associated with a policy of multiculturalism, which aimed at facilitating the integration of minorities into Australian society and maintaining social harmony. This was to be achieved by protecting the culture of all individuals living in Australia, guaranteeing social justice and equality of opportunities for all, and effective development and utilization of skills and talents of all Australians (The Australian Government, 2013). Initially multiculturalism bred, or was concomitant with, peace at the societal level, free from the kind of political violence that plagued many Western counterparts in Europe and North America. Some commentators went as far as arguing that Australia produced ‘great[er] settler immigrant societies … more successful immigrant societies than those of Europe in the modern era … [and] that our settlement practices are superior to that of Europe’ (Sheridan, 2011). At the official level, VEm did not figure among the number of potential non-military threats to Australia listed in the 1997 Foreign and Trade Policy White Paper.