This book offers an innovative account of Prevent, Britains counter-radicalisation strategy, situating it as a novel form of power that has played a central role in the production and the policing of contemporary British identity. Drawing on interviews with those at the heart of Prevents development, the book provides readers with an in-depth history and conceptualisation of the policy. The book demonstrates that Prevent is an ambitious new way of thinking about violence that has led to the creation of aradical new rolefor the state: tackling vulnerability to radicalisation. Detailing the history of the policy, and the concepts and practices that have been developed within Prevent, this book critically engages with the assumptions on which they are based and the forms of power they mobilise.

Thomas Martin is a Lecturer in International Studies at the Open University

Introduction1 The (problematic) history of Prevent2 The separatist literature on Prevent (and the way forward)3 The temporal ambition of Prevent: stopping people becoming terrorists4 Crossing the temporal gap: vulnerability, extremism and the ordering of identities5 Governing threatening environments: community cohesion and problem institutions6 The Channel project: identifying individuals who are vulnerable to radicalisation7 The identity politics of PreventConclusionIndex