1/ In light of the upcoming presentation tomorrow with @Medact in Manchester, I thought I would give a brief overview of the themes which we’ll be discussing regarding Prevent in the NHS
2/ Critiquing Prevent directly is (to an extent) futile. It will continue to grow – just did in Jan with new CT bill. IMO what began w/o evidence will not be challenged by evidence (to an extent) – esp if it’s politics. Over 10 years of research proves this #NoNeedForAReview
3/ What is important for us as researchers is to explore what Prevent reveals to us how the NHS and society operate. We need to think structures, because even if we were to #EndPrevent, those structures remain. What does Prevent reveal? Here are two points for tomorrow:
4/ 1st: racialised self-censorship of staff. I found a lot of self-censorship; and there was a racial dif. who/why staff self-censor. This also relates to austerity (over-regulation), training team (internal suspicion) and (VERY impt) the thoughtless mechanisation of policies
5/ 1st contd: re- last point. Some staff told me they heard "I know this is racist but I have to do it." Think Arendt’s banality of evil. What does this say about NHS if staff reluctantly do what they feel is unethical? This isnt only Prevent – this is BIG issue @DocsNotCops etc.
6/ 2nd point: institutional racism in NHS. How does racial prejudice operate in healthcare beyond racial hostility? Prevent gives a clue: colour-blindness. Policies like Prevent (and hostile environment, etc) evade charge of racism by saying: we go after everyone, race-irrelevant
7/ 2nd contd: Why would Prevent be charged with racism? Too many studies found that Muslim bodies are normatively associated with threat/terrorism in public consciousness (legacy of other-ing, think Shamima). Prevent is asking (post-Brexit) public to identify pre-terrorists
8/ 2nd contd: Colorblindness works very well, by dismissing race or raising/erasing it (real ex: is radicalisation a boy visiting mosque? No). I have a lot to say but one element: neoliberal governance responsibilises staff for their own racial prejudice – policy is blameless
9/ 2nd: on colorblindness and institutional racism, I will never fail to encourage everyone to read Alexander’s The New Jim Crow @thenewjimcrow. You’ll see how systemic colorblindness can be, and its results – mass incarceration of Black people in US
10/ These are very basic points for tomorrow, among others. Look forward to learning from the discussion! I will also be discussing intersection of health/politics/race at other occasions in the future
11/ oops forgot to tag the actual organisers for tomorrow, my bad! @MancMedact
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