Using the checklist of French actions against radicalism as a template

Radical Innovators Beware -- in the arts, sciences and philosophy (Part #2)

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The procedure employed was based on the 80-point List of Measures in the Plan d'Action contre la Radicalisation et le Terrorisme (Dossier de Presse, 9 mai 2016), presented by Prime Minister Manuel Valls. An indicative English translation was made using Google Translate, with all the reservations the result may imply; no attempt was made to correct the translation. As noted above, terms relating to radicalisation were then replaced by XXXX; those relating to terrorism were replaced by YYYY. Given the explicit focus on Islam as the "other" considered to be primarily associated with radicalisation and terrorism in the document, a further substitution of ZZZZ can be made to enable a variety of "others" to be considered.

This gives a document which can then be imaginatively explored by substitution of synonyms and connotations of radicalisation for XXXX, with a similar approach applied to terror, in the case of YYYY (see Action Plan against XXXX and YYYY).

The issue, in terms of the wider implications of the result, is how the list of measures might then be more fully understood. The following is an indication of the back-replacements that could be made -- possibly using the template in an interactive mode on the web, to enable such cut-and-paste exploration by many.

Indication of potentially instructive back-substitutions in the Action Plan [see experimental template]

It is interesting to note that whilst de-radicalisation has achieved acceptance as a term, the range of analogous terms for other possible "de-XXXX" processes is remarkably impoverished. This is also true of "de-YYYY" processes, and their mitigation. It is however equally true of "de-ZZZZ" processes. Potentially of most significance is the framework provided by "eradication", as discussed separately (Eradication as the Strategic Final Solution of the 21st Century? Indicative checklist of possible domains of application 2014).

The latter notably refers to the recognised policy consequences of framing otherness through metaphors, as articulated by Donald Schon (Generative Metaphor: a perspective on problem-setting in social policy, 1979). He argues that the essential difficulties in social policy have more to do with problem setting than with problem solving, more to do with ways in which we frame the purposes to be achieved than with the selection of optimal means for achieving them. For Schon the framing of problems often depends upon metaphors underlying the stories which generate problem setting and set the direction of problem solving, as summarized separately (Generative metaphor and policy-making). The focus on "deradicalisation" or "eradication" therefore has very particular consequences.

The concern here is the extent to which the preoccupation with XXXX as "abnormal" may in some way be interpreted to include any initiative which is creative, innovative or original -- even those strategic initiatives acclaimed as offering radical solutions in response to the so-called wicked problems by which society is now faced. Is the French initiative symptomatic of a form of memetic warfare against the unusual in any form (Noopolitics and memetic warfare within the noosphere, 2014; Norms in the Global Struggle against Extremism: "rooting for" normalization vs. "rooting out" extremism?, 2005)?

An unqualified framing of radicalisation, as through the EU Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), offers the further irony as to how its mandate might be confused with that of hypothetical initiatives such as an EU Creativity Awareness Network, an EU Innovation Awareness Network, or an EU Imagination Awareness Network. Are government authorities renowned for their capacity to distinguish creative innovation from deadly threat? In the case of France, the argument is usefully illustrated by the political crisis regarding the highly controversial legislative response to the issue of homosexual marriage -- indicative of radical behavioural extremism, terrifying to many, calling into question the norms of civilised society.

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