University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Islamophobia in Germany. National report 2016

chapter
posted on 2023-06-09, 13:56 authored by Aleksandra LewickiAleksandra Lewicki
The year 2016 stands for several concerning developments in Germany. Germany experienced its first series of successful terrorist attacks by supporters of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (DAESH). The salience of anti-Muslim racist discourses and practices has reached an unprecedented scale. Anti-Muslim sentiments are supported by roughly half of the population in Germany. It has become apparent that a significant proportion of about 20% are now also prepared to translate these views into political action. The right-wing populist party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), whose political leadership explicitly mobilised around Islamophobic sentiments in 2016, parachuted into five regional parliaments, achieving between 12 and 24% of the vote. Furthermore, a quarter of the population in former East and former West Germany approve the political agenda of the social movement PEGIDA (‘Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident’), with several marches each week across the country. The number of violent attacks against refugee shelters, which quadrupled in 2015, remained at an alarming peak in 2016. Seventeen assaults per week were registered by the authorities, and an average of thirty-seven attacks per week was reported in local media. Just as other group biases that are salient in a society at a time, Islamophobia is – often unintentionally – reproduced through institutional processes in various areas of public life. This report discusses quantitative and qualitative evidence for systematic patterns of both direct and indirect structural discrimination in the German labour market, the education and criminal justice systems, as well as within print and social media. Diverse datasets in these areas indicate either persistence or an increase in differential treatment of Muslims and individuals who do not necessarily self-describe as Muslim, but are perceived by others as belonging to the Islamic faith. The trends outlined in this report are expected to significantly impact on the election campaigns and the outcomes of the German national election in 2017.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Publisher

Seta. Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research

Page range

215-236

Book title

European Islamophobia Report - 2016

Place of publication

Istanbul

ISBN

9789752459007

Department affiliated with

  • Sociology and Criminology Publications

Research groups affiliated with

  • Sussex Centre for Migration Research Publications

Institution

SETA

Full text available

  • No

Contributors

Enes Bayrakli, Farid Hafez

Legacy Posted Date

2018-06-25

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-06-22

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC