Irina Starodubrovskaya Took Part in the Discussion on Counteracting the Radicalization of Youth in the North Caucasus
On 22–23 May, Irina Starodubrovskaya, Director of the Center for Political Economy and Regional Development, took part in the round table “Problems and best practices of counteracting the radicalization of a part of the youth in the North Caucasus” organized by the “Memorial” human rights center and Novaya Gazeta with expert support fr om the International Crisis Group.
The round table participants discussed the methodology and practices of radicalization prevention and deradicalization, as well as state structures’ and public institutions’ specific practices aimed at counteracting the radicalization of young people.
On the first day of the conference, Irina Starodubrovskaya moderated the discussion “Countering the propaganda of terrorist organizations. Working with families. Media, social networks, video products, and the work of religious figures for preventing extremism.” During the meeting, the following questions were discussed:
- Can the family help reverse the process of radicalization? How can we strengthen its ability to respond correctly to alarm signals?
- What typical mistakes do families that face this problem make?
- How to make counter-propaganda in the media and social networks more effective?
On the second day, the Gaidar Institute expert made the presentation “Deradicalization of the youth: Methodological aspects” within the discussion on youth outreach issues.
According to Irina Starodubrovskaya, discussing the role of the family in the Caucasus for preventing radicalism helped identify a number of problem points. “Children cannot be totally controlled, we cannot read every message in their gadget. In order for children to share their problems, we need trust-based relations. A traditional family wh ere there is some kind of authoritative management, [for example] the authoritative father, does not provide for such confidence,” Irina Starodubrovskaya believes.