For his SSHRC funded doctoral project, Fahad Ahmad will be studying how the work of community organizations that provide social and economic support to immigrant and Muslim communities mitigates radicalization. He will conduct a comparative case study of organizations working on Muslim community development in Canada and the UK to determine how counter-radicalization policies have shaped their program delivery and radicalization in their local communities. The in-depth case study will inform a quantitative analysis across all OECD countries to ascertain the relationship between radicalization and the activities of organizations working with immigrant and Muslim communities.
The mixed-method research project relates directly with the TSAS areas of “Terrorism” as Fahad is interested in understanding the process of radicalization, and “Society” as he intend to study how radicalization can be mitigated through the actions of organizations operating at the community level. In line with the priorities of TSAS, he will probe the intersectionality of counter-radicalization policy, Canadian multiculturalism, and community mobilization. Furthermore, his research will generate new empirical data and measurement indicators for radicalization that will contribute to the scholarly work of TSAS researchers.
His professional experience also aligns with TSAS’s mandate. Prior to starting his PhD in Public Policy in Carleton University, he spent almost a decade managing, implementing, and designing programs and policies for community development and outreach among Muslim youth and immigrants in Canada and abroad, specifically for peace-building and inter-community cohesion. Fahad is also working for Dr. Jeffrey Monaghan at Carleton University researching overlaps between policing strategies for countering gang violence and for preventing radicalization.
