The radical right has been small, fractious yet persistent in nearly a century of activism at the furthest reaches of the right-wing spectrum. As this collection of primary source documents makes plain, moreover, there are also a number of surprising elements in British fascism that were not observed elsewhere. While there had long been exclusionary,… Continue reading “The Radical Right in Britain”
The All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims (APPG) attempted to propose a working definition for Islamophobia. It opened submissions on the definition between May and June 2018 that addressed a range of issues. The consultation process included written submissions from academics, legal experts, and organisations, with community consultations within local communities in Manchester, London,… Continue reading “What’s in a definition? The UK’s emerging quest for a definition of Islamophobia”
Drawing on qualitative interviews, scientific studies and Tell MAMA’s comprehensive database of anti-Muslim attacks, this REPORT provides the first substantive move towards a measurable and objective national definition of anti-Muslim hatred. It first sets the scene by engaging with the body of scientific knowledge already out there on the nature of this form of hatred before… Continue reading “A Working Definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred – Summary”
Britain’s far-right undertow turns hostile currents against ethnic and religious minorities into a tsunami of hatred. Pause a moment to register two unloved anniversaries. This spring marks a decade since the first anti-Muslim street movement, the English Defence League (EDL), emerged on British streets. Slowly but surely, the Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA), now a… Continue reading “The DFLA: a(nother) new UK far right movement?”
Linking hate speech or extreme language with humor looks disturbing, since it is assumed that prejudice, intolerance and fanaticism are humorless per se. Memes have a frequent presence in our daily lives. They flood our timelines on different social media platforms, usually to provide us with a smile. Originally, the term “meme” was coined by… Continue reading “Memes of Hate: Countering Cyber Islamophobia”
Anti-Muslim hate crime, which spikes following terror attacks, is inextricably intertwined with racism. This article has been difficult to write because I was hoping that, in 2019, I would not need to start talking about international terrorism and how it can impact the streets of Britain. Instead, we are focusing on the terrible events that happened… Continue reading “Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Is a New Form of Racism”
Decent people everywhere are still reeling from the tragic, senseless violence of Christchurch massacre. It appears that the accused killer was a product of the violent, hateful meme culture of the radical right online. Furthermore, he chose to livestream his rampage on a favorite platform used by anti-Muslim extremists: Facebook. Unfortunately, for many of us… Continue reading “Analysis of Anti-Muslim Images and Text on Facebook”
The Christchurch mass murderer acted alone, but the core ideas in his manifesto are widely shared by Islamophobic actors in Europe and beyond. Almost eight years since the Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik, killed 77 people on July 22, 2011, his ideas and methods inspire right wing extremists in Europe and beyond. Despite the difference… Continue reading “Lone actors with shared ideas”
After a radical right-wing terrorist murdered 50 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand, President Trump downplayed the threat of white nationalism – a threat he has helped to fuel. Updated March 16, 2019: The death toll of the New Zealand terrorist attack has now risen to 50 and President Trump has since defended Fox News host… Continue reading “Trump Says White Nationalism Isn’t A Growing Threat. He’s Lying.”
Terrorism as theater in the age of Internet ‘Bühnensucht’ is a German expression denoting an irrational longing to take the stage or as Jenkins put it already in 1974, “terrorism is theater” (Jenkins 1974:7). In the age of online communication and social media, the stage is the same as the Internet and the audience that… Continue reading “‘The Great Replacement’ – Decoding the Christchurch Terrorist Manifesto”