Policy@Manchester has launched a collection of essays from researchers which looks closely at extremism and social cohesion in the UK.

The purpose of OnCohesion is to offer new insight, research evidence and expert comment about these issues which will be shared with key stakeholders, and will tie in with work being done by the Preventing Hateful Extremism and Promoting Social Cohesion Commission formed by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.

The publication includes an introduction from Mr Burnham reflecting on the Manchester attack, and essays representing the individual views of academics supported by research and opinion produced by Policy@Manchester. Some of the primary issues discussed are:

• The importance of youth engagement building social cohesion

• The role economic inequality has to play in violent extremism

• Why embracing language diversity is a key to community cohesion

• The impact of the Prevent strategy

‘On Cohesion’ follows previous successful Policy@Manchester publications On Devo, On Brexit and On Energy. OnBrexit was downloaded and viewed over 9,000 times and OnEnergy was launched in Parliament to key stakeholders and has been used to engage with a variety of policy makers.

“We recently commemorated the anniversary of the Manchester bombing and the attack at London Bridge, and sadly violent extremism continues to be a threat in the UK,” said Anna Scaife, Co-Director at Policy@Manchester. “OnCohesion examines why violent extremism continues to be a problem in the UK, the impact government policies have had on tackling this issue and offers solutions for how we can build and foster greater community cohesion. It offers new insight and research evidence into one of the most pressing issues of our time.”