What Is Deradicalization? Translating Security Practices in the Maghreb and the Sahel

While deradicalization programmes have proliferated globally, the concept of deradicalization remains contested. Instead of putting forward yet another abstract definition, whose universal acceptance would remain elusive, the article draws on the translation and localization turn in critical security studies to examine how deradicalization is rendered meaningful through situated social practices. By focusing on deradicalization in the Maghreb and Sahel region, and, namely, on Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Niger, the article grounds its analysis in experience near concepts while addressing a lasting asymmetry in a research field that is dominated by cases, concepts and problems emanating from the Global North. Empirically, the article leverages extensive qualitative research and sustained field engagement to show how the meanings of deradicalization travel across a transnational field of security practices and are therefore subject to translation, localization and adaptation by a diverse set of practitioners. In doing so, it reveals how deradicalization is not a fixed or uniform practice, but a flexible repertoire shaped by political settlements, institutional legacies, and cultural idioms. This approach not only offers a more grounded understanding of deradicalization in the Maghreb and Sahel but also contributes to broader debates on the global diffusion and vernacularization of security concepts and practices.