Burkinis, Slippery Slope and Euroscepticism: Islamophobia in Post-communist Europe

The Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies (Middle East & Central Asia) (CAIS)is Australia’s premier location for studies in this field, with a high international standing and links with its major counterparts in the Arab & Muslim world, as well as in North America and Europe.The ANU Centre for European Studies (ANUCES)is an initiative involving six ANU Colleges(Arts & Social Sciences; Law; Business & Economics; Asia & the Pacific; Science; and Engineering & Computer Science) co-funded by ANU and the European Union.

ANU Centre for European Studies, and Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies

In recent years, European newspaper headlines have repeatedly highlighted xenophobia and intolerance in post-communist Europe. In the Czech Republic and Hungary, Islamophobic narratives have emerged in the context of the migration crisis and should be interpreted as a political instrument of the populist parties.
The Czech Republic and Hungary do not have as large a Muslim minority as Germany, France or the UK, however, they are experiencing increasing Islamophobia. The dominant form of Islamophobia relies on unfair and inaccurate reports, insecurities about the future and distrust of public institutions. Anti-Muslim hate goes hand in hand with growing Euroscepticism and anti-elitist discourse.
What are the key differences between Islamophobia and traditional post-communist populism? What are the dominant narratives of hatred in post-socialist Europe, and how do they differ from their Western European counterparts? What is best-practice for countering anti-Muslim hate?
Dr Karel Čada is a researcher at the Department of Sociology at the Charles University in Prague. He is currently the principal investigator of the project “Dynamics of Poverty and Social Exclusion in the Czech Republic” funded by the Czech National Science Agency. He also leads the Czech team of the project “Countering Islamophobia Through the Development of Best Practice in the Use of Counter-Narratives in EU Member States”, coordinated by the University of Leeds. Between 2014 and 2015, Dr Čada was a leader of the research team mapping social exclusion in the Czech Republic. He has published in the areas of social exclusion, poverty, inequalities, ethnicities, migration and social and health policies.

The Al-Falasi Lecture Theatre, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, The Australian National University

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}