Governing Threats through Ambiguity: The Construction of the Dangerous Person in German Counter-Terrorism

Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) in Germany spans state and civil society, with various actors involved in risk assessment and information sharing. The boundaries between preventive and repressive counter-terrorism have become increasingly blurred at the operational and institutional levels leading to uncertainty regarding the roles of different agencies. Ambiguous terminology such as the concept of the “Gefährder” (dangerous person) poses a further challenge. This paper explores how this term is interpreted and applied by different German P/CVE actors and the issues arising therein. The “Gefährder” is loosely defined as a person who, based on certain facts, may commit politically motivated criminal offences. The use of this concept reflects the continuous expansion of competencies of security agencies within the preventive turn, signalling a shift in focus from the act to the actor. Security agencies can carry out surveillance measures, initiate electronic tagging, and instigate preventive detention or deportation (of non-German or dual citizens) on individuals identified as a “Gefährder”. The opaque process of classifying an individual as a “Gefährder” and the grave consequences that can follow has sparked criticism within academia and beyond; however, these debates are primarily situated in the field of law. By focusing on the concept of “Gefährder” and how it has been used in different discursive spaces, this paper extends the debate beyond the legal dogmatics of danger prevention and outlines developments in German counterterrorism over time. Using official documents, political debates, and interview data, we trace the emergence of the terminology and how it has been articulated and operationalised by different P/CVE actors: politicians, the police, security agencies, the courts, and civil society. Analysing the different understandings of what constitutes a dangerous person, we aim to uncover the impact that different constructions of the “Gefährder” have on the rule of law and trust in the German P/CVE landscape.