Research
Over the course of my career I have been involved in a broad range of research projects stranding across my core areas of interest, including the formation of national security and counter-radicalisation strategy, examining factors facilitating pathways into extremism, safeguarding of young people, environmental activism and regulation of environmental harms.
I am currently involved in a range of research projects that extend my interest in the ways in which risks are defined, deployed, regulated and managed.
As UK Principal Investigator, I lead a 3 Million Euro European Commission funded Research and Innovation Action project, ‘Determining multi-level led causes and testing intervention designs to reduce radicalisation, extremism and political violence in North-Western Europe through social inclusion’ (DRIVE). Collaborating with a consortium of eight partners from across North-Western Europe, ground-breaking multi-methods research, this project involves extensive fieldwork across four sites: the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. The key objective of this major project is to determine European-wide policy solutions that can inform effective counter-radicalisation and de-radicalisation strategies.
Examining the factors that are common in the life biographies and narratives of people that explore and/or adopt extremist ideologies, DRIVE seeks to shed light on the role of social exclusion within radicalisation processes. Prioritising the experiences of young people sporadically exploring and engaging with extremist ideologies - primarily Far Right and Islamist - DRIVE interfaces with practitioners, civil society organisations and policy makers in order to create more robust approaches to safeguarding and techniques for resilience building at the individual, community and national level.
Cross-fertilising with this large-scale European project, I am involved in two cognate UK projects.
The first initiative, in which I act as co-investigator, is Conceptualising, Understanding, and Preventing Mixed Forms of Extremism (CUPMFE). This is an international collaborative project that seeks to bring together academics, practitioners, and civil society actors in order to better understand the problem of individuals immersed in and/or promoting mixed, unclear and unstable forms of extremism. The ambition of the project is both to identify critical knowledge gaps and to explore creative methods and approaches that can be used to better understand the growing trend of individuals engaging with violence fixated online content and exhibiting support for a variety of forms and blends of extremism, including misogynistic/Incel, conspiracy theories, homophobic, anti-LGBTQ, anti-semitic and far right.
The second ESRC funded project involves partnering with the charity ConnectFutures, an organisation that works closely with families and young people affected by violence and extremism. This project is oriented toward understanding interfaces with mixed, unclear and unstable - or ‘conflicted - forms of extremism amongst young people. The study involves engagement with young adults to learn more about the contexts and conditions in which some boys and men turn to a range of extremist perspectives, including misogynistic, Incel, conspiracy theory and far right ideology.
Working with Dr Laura Naegler, I am also engaged in a study investigating contemporary patterns of climate emergency activism. Focussing on the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, we are tracing both transformations in modes of activism and exploring the efficacy of dynamic practices, such as the nurturing of ‘regenerative culture’.
I continue to pursue my long-standing research interest around the theoretical uses of risk and the limits to risk theory. Following on from my critique of the risk society thesis, I am keen to contribute further toward the evolution of interdisciplinary theories and approaches to the study of risk.
I am an accomplished PhD supervisor, having seen more than 20 postgraduate researchers through to completion. I welcome applications from doctoral candidates planning to undertake research in any of the following areas: environmental activism; modes of counter terrorism regulation; contemporary forms of extremism; policing and surveillance of Muslim minority groups, counter-radicalisation strategy and advances in risk theory.
Research Interests
• Examining Key Factors Present in Pathways into Engagement with Violent Ideologies
• Understanding the Drivers of Violence Fixated Forms of Extremism
• Studying the Consequences and Effects of Counter Terrorism Regulation
• Understanding Resilience Building Amongst Survivors of Terrorist Attacks
• Environmental Activism and the Climate Emergency
• Examining the Effectiveness of Counter Radicalisation Strategies
• Expanding and Modernising Risk Theory
• Developing Critical Approaches to ‘Fear of Crime’
Research groups
Research grants
Understanding and overcoming the challenges of implementing the Prevent Duty Guidance in the secondary education sector.
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
October 2024 - September 2025
Determining multi-level led causes and testing intervention designs to reduce radicalisation, extremism and political violence in north-western Europe through social inclusion (DRIVE)
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
January 2021 - June 2024
To map and evaluate the socio-economic methodologies and decision support tools used in risk management agencies
FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY (UK)
October 2016 - September 2021
Living and Future Tools for Risk Assessment: An Examination of the Possibilities for Fusion
HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (UK)
October 2016 - September 2021