Research exploring threat landscapes, radicalization dynamics, and intervention frameworks through an intensive/extensive lens. The work applies acequia-inspired models to understand social systems and design relational structures.
## Analytical Framework - **Intensive gradients** - The underlying conditions that produce social phenomena - **Extensive discharges** - The visible events that result from gradient buildup - **Immanent structures** - Relational patterns that can redirect or absorb gradients
## The Four Needs | Need | Immanent Form | |------|---------------| | **Communion** | Mutual constitution with others; being one pole of relation | | **Meaningful Work** | Effort coupled to visible effect; agency feedback loop | | **Status** | Standing in relational field; position that makes difference | | **Respect** | Recognition as partner; agonistic but not antagonistic engagement |
## The Acequia Model Applied | Acequia Element | Translation | |-----------------|-------------| | Shared water (scarce resource) | Shared stake in neighborhood, commons, or project | | Parciante (member) | Not client, not beneficiary—partner with rights and obligations | | Mayordomo (emerges from system) | Leadership from relational standing, not appointment | | Agonistic but not antagonistic | Space for conflict within shared structure | | Seasonal cycle | Rhythm of engagement, not one-time program |
## Intervention Design **What Cannot Work:** - Counter-narrative (competes on ideological terrain) - Integration programs ("join our structure on our terms") - Surveillance + interdiction (addresses extensive, regenerates intensive) - Deradicalization therapy (individual pathology model) **What Might Work:** - Acknowledge macro gradients (radical honesty) - Build immanent relational structures (the actual work) - Commons, mutual aid, collective work, apprenticeship, ritual
The footsteps in the sand are coming back to carry you. But they come back through the relational structures we build or fail to build.