Books

"Although the women's struggle and the struggle for equality went on in full force in Norway, few of my Norwegian friends or acquaintances asked me about the trip to Pakistan, or where the two little girls had become. Nor did I hear anything from the girls' school and kindergarten. Sometimes it felt like the women's struggle in Norway did not include the immigrant women. "

In the fall of 2016, Azra Gilani had a chronicle, "Muslim mothers, now you must wake up", in print in the Aftenposten. The overwhelming response to this statement prompted Gilani to write her story with her youngest daughter Maria. In addition to being a reflected and personal analysis of integration problems in Norway, it is a strong portrait of an even stronger woman's history as mother, spouse, immigrant and Norwegian.

Why was Tom Olsen a neo-Nazi? Why did Norwegian youths fight and die for the terrorist organization IS? Is it possible to protect society from violent extremism, and can we at all understand the psychology of extremists?

Since Minotenk was established in 2009, the task of promoting extraterrestrial prevention and radicalization has been central. The experience of missing an updated handbook on the topic has resulted in an anthology with a thorough introduction to the radicalization process: "as a phenomenon, what forms of extremism is taking place in Norway today, and what tools we have available in preventive work."

“It's striking to see how similar our exit experiences are. It's almost always about unexpected encounters with people who treat us differently than we expected. The episodes, the events, are of course unique, but the essence is always the same: Those who manage to see the person behind [...], who stretches a hand past the hatred and contempt, can with compassion and care contribute to the way out for even the most hardened extremist. "

"It has always been a pity on people, but is it a pity on the contemporary? Should we believe the widespread public concern for youth is the case. If you look at it historically, however, it is hold to claim that no generation has so far had better conditions for realizing itself. This contradiction is the starting point for this book. "

This is how the opening lines of a work that seriously take on the issues of today's youth are heard: not only the external factors and pressures that lead to large incidences of mental distress, but also the problem of the concepts of "Generation Achievement" and "Good Girl Syndrome." Is it healthy for young people to always be looked at with research or therapeutic eyes? Do we use young people to filter out our own concerns so that we burden a less resourceful group with problems we face as a society?

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