Edited by Eveline Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, Hermann J. Abs, and Kerstin Göbel

This interdisciplinary volume on The Challenge of Radicalization and Extremism: Integrating Research on Education and Citizenship in the Context of Migration addresses the need for educational researchers to place their work in a broader social and political context by connecting it to the current and highly relevant issue of extremism and radicalization. It is just as important for researchers of extremism and radicalization to strengthen their conceptual links with educational fields, especially with education for democratic citizenship, as for researchers in education to get more familiar with issues of migration. This book meets a current shortage of research that addresses these issues across subjects and disciplines to inform both scientific and professional stakeholders in the educational and social sectors. The volume is divided into three parts. The first part, Foundations, provides fundamental research on radicalization and the rejection of democratic values. In the second part, Analysis of Preconditions within the Educational Context, key risk and protective factors against radicalization for young people are explored. Finally, the third part, Approaches for Prevention and Intervention, offers concrete suggestions for prevention and intervention methods within formal and informal educational contexts. The contributions show how new avenues for prevention can be explored through integrating citizenship education’s twofold function to assimilate and to empower.

Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2022. 380p.

By Matías Braun,  Francisco Gallego,  Rodrigo R. Soares

This paper explores the effects of upgrading deteriorated public squares on economic and social outcomes. We implemented an experiment whereby public squares were randomly selected to be renovated in 28 fragile neighborhoods of the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile. We find that, after the intervention, households in treated neighborhoods increased their use and maintenance of public space and experienced an increased sense of ownership over their neighborhoods. Treated neighborhoods also experienced improvements in public security both in the public square and in the neighborhood. There is also evidence of an impact on trust and participation in community organizations and a reduction in leisure outside the neighborhood. The results are stronger in neighborhoods with low initial levels of public security but with relatively higher initial levels of social capital. We find that certain physical features (the presence of public lighting, the presence of a close public transportation stop, and the absence of economic activities related to alcohol consumption) affect the strength of the treatment. All these suggest that the effect of upgrading public spaces is highly dependent on other characteristics of local communities. JEL: K42, O18, R53 Keywords: public space recovery, crime, social capital, urban infrastructure

IZA Discussion Papers, No. 16269, Bonn:  Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), 2023. 48p.