From “radical” to “radicalized” media and political uses of the idea of “deradicalization” in France (2014-2017)

This article aims to trace the journey of the notion of “deradicalization” in the French media and political fields. By reviewing the uses of the notion through the analysis of two corpora, it demonstrates how “deradicalization” suddenly appeared, imposed itself as a State’s prerogative, and eventually disappeared only to be replaced by other euphemized forms. By studying the publics these discourses label as needing “deradicalization”, this article explores how the figure of the “radical”, traditionally used to describe far left and far right activists who deliberately engaged in armed violence, progressively left space for the “radicalized”, referring to individuals suspected of “Jihadism”, and depicted as passive vehicles for an ideology that would be the State’s responsibility to extract from them.