Every time there is a violent attack in the Global North, such as the suicide bombing in Liverpool this weekend or the recent stabbing of a British MP or the attack in Norway last month, we see discussions about violent radicalisation and the dangers posed by radicalised individuals. But this conversation rarely addresses the role of state institutions in fomenting such violence.
Around the world, we increasingly see politicians triggering radicalised action either by inciting violence against their political enemies or marginalised social groups, or by state institutions failing to protect minorities.
The knife attack against a woman wearing a mask symbolising her rejection of the Hungarian government’s control over universities is an example of the former. The self-assigned moral police role that right-wing groups have assumed in Georgia under the guidance of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and their attacks against LGBTIQ and religious minorities that lack police protection, reveals the latter.
