Coined in the Runnymede Trust’s seminal report in 1997, the neologism of “Islamophobia” has been endlessly used to express the irrational hostility towards Muslims and Islam. This antagonism has been a global phenomenon on the rise, especially after the 9/11 in which the Western world realised of its vulnerability to an extent never experienced before.… Continue reading “Islamophobia in Sri Lanka or the Sterilization Obsession”
The radical right is once again using the fact a food retailer has begun selling halal meat as an excuse to allege “creeping sharia law.” In October, M&S announced that it was to become the first major food retailer in the UK to launch a range of own-brand halal ready meals. Available in 36 stores… Continue reading “Halal Hysteria: How Outrage About M&S Ready Meals Co-opted Radical Right Rhetoric”
“We all know Iran, don’t we? Or at least we think we do”. So said John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor, on air in the early 1990s. A veteran Iran reporter, Simpson had accompanied Ayatollah Khomeini on his return flight to Iran in 1979 from exile in France. The point he was making was… Continue reading “Radical-Right Demonization of Soleimani and Iran: Islamophobic Weaponry in the Public Sphere”
My new book, “Reconfiguring Islamophobia: a radical rethinking of a contested concept” (Palgrave Macmillan) marks a decade since the publication of my first book on the topic (“Islamophobia”, Ashgate). Through the lens afforded by the phenomenon of Islamophobia, it is an understatement to suggest that much has changed in that decade. For instance, it was… Continue reading “Reconfiguring Islamophobia and the Radical Right: a decade in retrospect”
Part 1 of this blog summarised current psychological theories relevant to understanding far-right personalities and behaviour. The following sections summarise the data on three non-violent far-right supporters, and analyse to what extent these theories are born out[1]. Case 1: Male aged 76, UKIP and Britain First Supporter The author has known this individual (Subject 1)… Continue reading “Jekyll-and-Hyde: What Creates a Far-Right Supporter? Part 2.”
In the second episode of the ASEN-CARR’s podcast series, CARR Doctoral Fellow Nicholas James speaks to Dr. Nicky Falkof and Dr. Aaron Winter. Dr. Falkof is an associate professor and cultural studies scholar based at Wits University who writes on race, anxiety, and moral panic in the urban global south. Dr. Winter is a senior… Continue reading “ASEN – CARR Podcast #2 Racial Mythologies Of The Far Right”
An analysis of YouTube comments and tweets finds that anonymity online leads to the spread of fake news, conspiracy theories, and hate. In 2019, I was asked by the Commission into Countering Extremism to provide my insights into the role of extremism online and whether conspiracy theories about Muslims were leading to hate; both online and offline.… Continue reading “How Fake News Can Lead To Online Islamophobia”
Cartoonists are modern jesters but, unlike those merrymen of yore, they are no longer safe. It has been traditionally accepted in modern societies that the media play a key role in the way they function. Journalists counteract the abuses of power by governments, frame political issues and are implicitly recognized as being part of the… Continue reading “In Sri Lanka, Cartoonists Take on the Alt-Right”
Authoritarianism, a characteristic of the far-right, has developed anew in the 21st century and has presented itself in multiple guises and in multiple loci to an extent that poses an increased threat and risk to democratic societies. For good or ill, I choose to label this phenomenon as the Alternative Right (Alt-Right), although recognizing that… Continue reading “The New Authoritarianism and the Glorification of Amoral Calculation”
Has the Norwegian police learned anything from its failure in the 2011 Breivik attacks? A recent terror attack at a mosque near Oslo raises important questions about the extent and range of radical right extremism and the Norwegian state response to it. On the 10th of August 2019, the young radical right extremist Philip… Continue reading “Behind Norway’s terrorist attack that was luckily thwarted”