Restoring Deliberative Norms after Extremist Attacks

Description

Violent extremist attacks pose significant challenges for contemporary democracies, affecting not only public safety but also the deliberative norms essential to democratic life. Such attacks can undermine inclusion, mutual respect, critical reflection, and responsiveness to reasoned argument by deepening social divisions and constraining dialogue across differences. This paper examines the post-attack public sphere through a deliberative lens, analysing how extremist violence disrupts democratic discourse and how key deliberative norms might be safeguarded or restored. It identifies three pathways that may emerge after such attacks—deliberative breakdown, deliberative stagnation, and deliberative deepening—highlighting the roles played by diverse public sphere actors in shaping each trajectory. By shifting attention to the public sphere as both a target of violent extremism and a site of democratic resilience, the chapter argues that strengthening deliberative norms can contribute to long-term peacemaking and reduce the risk of future extremism. The paper is co-authored with Jordan McSwiney, Emily Beausoleil and Adele Webb.

Period	21 Jun 2026
Event title	The 7th Annual Conference of the International Association for Reconciliation Studies (IARS): Paths Toward Peace. Reconciliation in Theory & Practice
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	International