Periodic Reporting for period 4 - ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM (Nativism, Islamophobism and Islamism in the Age of Populism: Culturalisation and Religionisation of what is Social, Economic and Political in Europe)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-07-01 do 2023-12-31
Two substantial crises, namely the global financial crisis and the refugee crisis, further escalated ethnocultural and religious tensions in the European Union. Focusing on France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, this project questions how and why some young European citizens generate an Islamophobist discourse to express their discontent while others generate essentialist forms of Islamism. Although many youths in this generation produce exclusionary discourses, they share the frustration of those they exclude. Among the reasons for discontent are the de-industrialization of former manufacturing environments, marginalization in the job market, perceived discrimination, insecurity, isolation, and humiliation in various social settings. At this historical juncture, ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM utilizes a single optical lens to analyze the factors and processes behind the radicalization of European youths. Our fundamental premise is that the economic, political, and cultural shocks led by the flows of globalization act as a driving force behind radicalization, be that Islamist or Islamophobist.
ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM distinguishes radicalism from fundamentalism, extremism, terrorism based on theoretical as well as empirical assessments. As opposed to approaches that take radicalization as a process to be curbed, this study takes radicalization as a symptom and possibly a quest for resolving the aforementioned problems. Therefore, it demonstrates a colorful set of foundational claims that youths make in reaction to their socioeconomic, political, spatial and/or nostalgic grievances. The project’s overall objective is to emphasize the value of radical and critical thinking patterns while problematizing the monopoly of culturalism.
While questioning how and why various forms of radicalization occur, this research project scrutinizes the alternative cultural, psychological, and structural explanations for the process. As a result, it reframes youth disillusionment as a matter of socioeconomic and political cleavages rather than cultural and religious incompatibilities. In doing so, it problematizes the neoliberal form of governance, which underpinned the turn to identity by outlawing radicalisms that fall outside the market of cultural or religious repertoires. ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM emphasizes the socioeconomic, political, and psychological processes common to various segments of the European public, including native or migrant-origin populations.
ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM distinguishes radicalism from fundamentalism, extremism, terrorism based on theoretical as well as empirical assessments. As opposed to approaches that take radicalization as a process to be curbed, this study takes radicalization as a symptom and possibly a quest for resolving the aforementioned problems. Therefore, it demonstrates a colorful set of foundational claims that youths make in reaction to their socioeconomic, political, spatial and/or nostalgic grievances. The project’s overall objective is to emphasize the value of radical and critical thinking patterns while problematizing the monopoly of culturalism.
While questioning how and why various forms of radicalization occur, this research project scrutinizes the alternative cultural, psychological, and structural explanations for the process. As a result, it reframes youth disillusionment as a matter of socioeconomic and political cleavages rather than cultural and religious incompatibilities. In doing so, it problematizes the neoliberal form of governance, which underpinned the turn to identity by outlawing radicalisms that fall outside the market of cultural or religious repertoires. ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM emphasizes the socioeconomic, political, and psychological processes common to various segments of the European public, including native or migrant-origin populations.
The project completed all its aims stated in its 6 Work Packages (WP). WP1 was designed to efficiently and effectively publicize the research process. Accordingly, all publications were made publicly available at Zenodo (www.zenodo.org) which is linked to the project’s OpenAIRE website and CORDIS page (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/785934). As planned, the project interviews were published by January 1, 2024 as open-access data in line with the GDPR requirements. The European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, the partner organization of the project, was selected as the location of the open data repository of the project. Along with the required metadata submission forms, 302 interview transcripts conducted by the ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM research team have been shared on the EUI CADMUS system, which is the official repository system of the EUI (https://hdl.handle.net/1814/76159(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)).
In line with the aims stated behind the WP2, WP3, and WP4, the research team completed its (1) literature reviews on radicalization; (2) country reviews of Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, city narratives on interview locations; and (3) literature reviews on our migrant-origin interlocutors’ countries of origin, Morocco and Turkey. All reviews have been uploaded to ZENODO, linked to the project’s OpenAIRE website, and published on the project’s website (https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr/en/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) administered by the project team.
The field researchers contacted potential interlocutors and scheduled, conducted, and transcribed the interviews in the four countries. After the two interview rounds scheduled in 2020 and 2021, the field researcher in Germany, Melanie Weißenberg, completed 80 interviews, Max-Valentin Robert submitted 77 in France, Merel Zuurbier submitted 76 in the Netherlands, and An Van Raemdonck submitted 74 in Belgium. Desk researcher Amina Drhimeur conducted the desk research on Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora in Europe.
In consideration of WP5 and WP6, the research team, including PI Ayhan Kaya, Full-Time Postdoctoral Researchers Metin Koca (joined in November 2020) and Ayşe Tecmen (left in November 2020), and Part-Time Postdoctoral Researchers Jais Adam-Troian (left in January 2020) and Ayşenur Benevento (joined in January 2020), targeted a wide array of audiences through peer-reviewed scholarly publications, blog posts, reviews, workshops, lectures, and social media campaigns. Since the project’s initiation, we have published one dataset, one edited volume, sixteen individual peer-reviewed articles, fourteen book chapters, five conference proceedings, forty-six blog posts, and twenty-five literature reviews in the form of a working paper, all of which are accessible in the project website, https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie). Meanwhile, we presented our ongoing work in 130 invited talks (https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr/en/invited-talks/invited-talks(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and held four workshops and a final conference with the participation of advisory board members in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Morocco. To inform students and the broader academic community in Turkey, we organized a three-day certificate program entitled “Radicalization, Populism, and Islamophobism.” Our most remarkable social media campaign rests on a hashtag, #LendThemYourEars. This initiative we started on Twitter and our website aims to keep our interlocutors’ voices as they want them to be heard by the broader public.
The Advisory Board was comprised of Thomas Faist, Thijl Sunier, Marco Martiniello, Professor Constantina Badea, Anna Triandafyllidou, and Mehdi Lahlou. Advisory Board members have provided valuable insight into the local socio-cultural and political dynamics of legislation in their countries, as well as insight into the relevant legislation on social science research ethics. Finally, the ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM workshops in France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands were led by the board members in these countries. They have also contributed to the Prime Youth Blog with their insights.
The Ethics Board was comprised of Turgut Tarhanlı, Itır Erhart, and Professor Bertil Emrah Oder. The Board members have been consulted regularly on matters regarding research ethics and personal data protection. They have also prepared annual reports submitted to the ERCEA on the progress of the Project.
In line with the aims stated behind the WP2, WP3, and WP4, the research team completed its (1) literature reviews on radicalization; (2) country reviews of Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, city narratives on interview locations; and (3) literature reviews on our migrant-origin interlocutors’ countries of origin, Morocco and Turkey. All reviews have been uploaded to ZENODO, linked to the project’s OpenAIRE website, and published on the project’s website (https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr/en/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) administered by the project team.
The field researchers contacted potential interlocutors and scheduled, conducted, and transcribed the interviews in the four countries. After the two interview rounds scheduled in 2020 and 2021, the field researcher in Germany, Melanie Weißenberg, completed 80 interviews, Max-Valentin Robert submitted 77 in France, Merel Zuurbier submitted 76 in the Netherlands, and An Van Raemdonck submitted 74 in Belgium. Desk researcher Amina Drhimeur conducted the desk research on Morocco and the Moroccan diaspora in Europe.
In consideration of WP5 and WP6, the research team, including PI Ayhan Kaya, Full-Time Postdoctoral Researchers Metin Koca (joined in November 2020) and Ayşe Tecmen (left in November 2020), and Part-Time Postdoctoral Researchers Jais Adam-Troian (left in January 2020) and Ayşenur Benevento (joined in January 2020), targeted a wide array of audiences through peer-reviewed scholarly publications, blog posts, reviews, workshops, lectures, and social media campaigns. Since the project’s initiation, we have published one dataset, one edited volume, sixteen individual peer-reviewed articles, fourteen book chapters, five conference proceedings, forty-six blog posts, and twenty-five literature reviews in the form of a working paper, all of which are accessible in the project website, https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie). Meanwhile, we presented our ongoing work in 130 invited talks (https://bpy.bilgi.edu.tr/en/invited-talks/invited-talks(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)) and held four workshops and a final conference with the participation of advisory board members in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Morocco. To inform students and the broader academic community in Turkey, we organized a three-day certificate program entitled “Radicalization, Populism, and Islamophobism.” Our most remarkable social media campaign rests on a hashtag, #LendThemYourEars. This initiative we started on Twitter and our website aims to keep our interlocutors’ voices as they want them to be heard by the broader public.
The Advisory Board was comprised of Thomas Faist, Thijl Sunier, Marco Martiniello, Professor Constantina Badea, Anna Triandafyllidou, and Mehdi Lahlou. Advisory Board members have provided valuable insight into the local socio-cultural and political dynamics of legislation in their countries, as well as insight into the relevant legislation on social science research ethics. Finally, the ISLAM-OPHOB-ISM workshops in France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands were led by the board members in these countries. They have also contributed to the Prime Youth Blog with their insights.
The Ethics Board was comprised of Turgut Tarhanlı, Itır Erhart, and Professor Bertil Emrah Oder. The Board members have been consulted regularly on matters regarding research ethics and personal data protection. They have also prepared annual reports submitted to the ERCEA on the progress of the Project.
The PI and the post-docs have some articles in review. Prof. Kaya will start teaching in the second term using the findings of the research. The PI is now going to translate the findings of this research into the two upcoming European projects: Horizon Europe Project (Pledge: Politics of Grievance and Democratic Governance) and the Jean Monnet Network Project (ValEUs: Foreign Policy Issues: Values and Democracy). Prof. Kaya will be responsible for the WP 1 in PLEDGE working on the state-of-the-art. In ValEUs, he will be responsible for WP4 to communicate knowledge with the larger society.