Islamophobic Populism: The Case of Hungary
In: Journal of Muslims in EuropeSearch for other papers by Zsuzsanna Vidra in
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Abstract
Islamophobic narratives in Hungary are relatively recent phenomena, emerging prominently after the 2015 ‘migration crisis’ when the illiberal, populist, national-conservative government launched a anti-immigration campaign that fuelled anti-Muslim rhetoric. This article examines how anti-migration narratives intersected with representations of Islam during the 2015 migration crisis and evolved in post-migration crisis Hungary (2019–2024). It explores how the figure of the illegal (Muslim) migrant continued to influence Hungarian political rhetoric even as the primary enemy shifted to conservative gender-critic ‘gender ideology’. By analysing the evolution of these narratives, we also aim to compare Eastern (Hungarian) and Western manifestations of Islamophobic populism. Using thematic analysis, we show that Islamophobic populism in Hungary shares similarities with its Western counterpart, however, a key difference is that the former views liberal democratic values – labelled as ‘liberal’ or ‘leftist liberal’ – as threats that undermine Christian Europe by facilitating Islamisation and promoting a gender ideology.
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Islamophobic Populism: The Case of Hungary
In: Journal of Muslims in EuropeSearch for other papers by Zsuzsanna Vidra in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Islamophobic narratives in Hungary are relatively recent phenomena, emerging prominently after the 2015 ‘migration crisis’ when the illiberal, populist, national-conservative government launched a anti-immigration campaign that fuelled anti-Muslim rhetoric. This article examines how anti-migration narratives intersected with representations of Islam during the 2015 migration crisis and evolved in post-migration crisis Hungary (2019–2024). It explores how the figure of the illegal (Muslim) migrant continued to influence Hungarian political rhetoric even as the primary enemy shifted to conservative gender-critic ‘gender ideology’. By analysing the evolution of these narratives, we also aim to compare Eastern (Hungarian) and Western manifestations of Islamophobic populism. Using thematic analysis, we show that Islamophobic populism in Hungary shares similarities with its Western counterpart, however, a key difference is that the former views liberal democratic values – labelled as ‘liberal’ or ‘leftist liberal’ – as threats that undermine Christian Europe by facilitating Islamisation and promoting a gender ideology.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 132 | 132 | 42 |
| Full Text Views | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 5 | 5 | 3 |
