In partnership with the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers (NSCSW), this introductory online session offers a critical overview of the Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) landscape in Canada, inviting participants to examine how history, power, and social context shape the field.

The session revisits key terms such as violence, social polarization, and prevention from a critical perspective, exploring how definitions influence policies, priorities, and frontline practices. Participants will reflect on how dominant narratives can both inform and limit our understanding of prevention, sometimes reproducing exclusion or harm. The session encourages practitioners to locate their own positionality and imagine approaches to prevention grounded in dignity, responsibility, and collective safety, by situating PVE within broader conversations on justice and community well-being.

Objectives :

• Critically analyze how historical context, power dynamics, and social factors shape the definitions and implementation of PVE policies and practices in Canada.

• Identify and evaluate how dominant narratives in the PVE field may inadvertently reproduce exclusion or harm and reflect on their own positionality within these frameworks.

• Develop alternative approaches to violence prevention that center dignity, collective safety, and community well-being, moving beyond traditional security-focused models.

Speaker : Ghayda Hassan, CPN-PREV Director and Founder
*En anglais seulement