Islamophobic Right-Wing Populism? Empirical Insights about Citizens’ Susceptibility to Islamophobia and Its Impact on Right-Wing Populists’ Electoral Success: Eastern Europe in a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Understanding the electoral success of right-wing populist parties has sparked the interest of many scholars. One factor receiving less attention in these debates is the role of religious affiliation as a cultural marker of allegedly dangerous out-groups. Right-wing populists often portray themselves as defenders of a Christian Occident that is allegedly under threat by an invasion of Muslims. We argue, in accordance with the culturalbacklash thesis, that the mobilization of right-wing populists would not have been possible without the widespread perception of Islam and Muslims as a threat. To test this assumption, we analyzed data from the European Social Survey (2014). Our results show that support for a ban against Muslims increases the likelihood of voting for right-wing populist parties, and the percentage of Muslims in the total population has no moderating effect. The individual linkage between anti-Muslim prejudices and the support of right-wing populist parties is a pan-European phenomenon. Interestingly, right-wing populists profit from anti-Muslim prejudices in places where few Muslims live. Thus, the absence of Muslims seems to favor a social climate in which anti-Muslim sentiments prevail. "Islamophobia without Muslims" offers right-wing populists a political window of opportunity to join government coalitions or even to win elections.

Not in my House: EU-citizenship among East-Central European Citizens: Comparative Analyses

“…The rejection of Muslims is proving to be a key element in the electoral success of right -wing populists. The relationships have already been documented elsewhere (Öztürk -Pickel 2019(Öztürk -Pickel , 2021. As an example, here is an analysis using the European Values Surveys and an assessment of right--wing parties (Table 1).…”

“…What becomes clear is that in the Eastern European and Central European member states, we find clear problems with sexual and gender diversity, as well as with Muslims. Country variations arise due to the thematisation of right -wing populist political elites, a proliferation of religious norms, but also historical traditions (Öztürk -Pickel 2019). The rejection of Muslims is proving to be a key element in the electoral success of right -wing populists.…”

“…The rejection of Muslim migration and sexual and gender diversity have established themselves as conflict issues. One could almost say that both issues are among the central mobilisation themes of Eastern European right -wing populists, who, unlike Western European right -wing populists, have found their way to power (also Brubaker 2017;Pytlas 2016;Öztürk -Pickel 2019Öztürk -Pickel , 2021. At the same time, the acceptance of Muslim migration and sexual and gender diversity characterise the growth of plurality and pluralisation in Europe.…”

“…Thus, the conflict of values that exists between traditionally minded people and proponents of pluralisation widens to a discrepancy between Western European and Central and Eastern European member states. Right -wing populists use this prevailing defensiveness among the population against Muslim migration and sexual and gender diversification for mobilisation and electoral success (also Eatwell -Goodwin 2018;Pytlas 2016;Öztürk -Pickel 2019). In doing so, they paint a picture of the European Union as a community that wants to forcibly change its values and pave the way for both Muslims and transgender activists to enter Central and Eastern European countries.…”

Religious Belief Model dalam al-Qur’an: Rekonfigurasi Dorongan Perubahan Tindakan Ketaatan

“…Pickel dan Öztürk memberikan bukti bahwa ancaman yang muncul dari nilai keagamaan berdampak pada pilihan untuk menghindari tindakan tersebut. 24 Hal yang sama ditunjukkan oleh Matthes et al yang menunjukkan keseriusan yang dirasakan seseorang yang mengancam nilai keagamaan tertentu berdampak pada tindakan penolakan terhadap tindakan-tindakan tersebut. 25 Keseriusan dan kerentanan yang dirasakan menjadi ancaman yang mendorong seseorang untuk menghindarinya.…”