Susi Meret

Revisiting Lepanto: the political mobilization against Islam in contemporary Western Europe

ABSTRACT In recent years, the place of Islam in Western European society has become a central political issue, particularly on the far right of the ideological spectrum. Parties as diverse as the Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP), the Lega Nord, the Dansk Folkeparti and the Vlaams Belang have mobilized against the ‘Muslim invasion’, launching campaigns against the building of mosques and minarets, the integration of Muslim immigrants and the recognition of Islam as a religion of equal status. Betz and Meret discuss how parties such as the SVP have framed the question of Islam in terms of culture, values and identity. This has allowed them to put themselves forward as defenders of fundamental liberal values, such as individualism, secularism and gender equality. Betz and Meret also advance an analytical framework that might allow us to put contemporary Islamophobia in Western Europe in a larger historical and transnational context. Their central argument is that the current political mobilization against the ‘Islamization’ of Western European societies is part of a larger ‘quest’ for a European identity.

Gender, Populism and Politics of Belonging: Discourses of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Denmark, Norway and Austria

The meaning of gender equality, women’s rights and family values is contested within and across nation states as well as influenced by a variety of national histories, institutional and cultural contexts, including the European Union (EU). Results from the Eurosphere project1 have emphasised that right-wing populist parties in western Europe combine a strong anti-immigrant profile with a strong euro-scepticism emphasising national values, historical traditions and institutions. The representatives of these parties claim that non-Europeans and Muslims present a threat to national identity, social cohesion and to women’s rights in society. The project’s findings raise general questions about the relationship between gender equality, ethno-national diversity and national belongings in western Europe.

Framing Scandinavian Conceptualizations of Irregular Migration

Abstract In the academic literature there seems to be consensus on irregular migration being a marginal phenomenon in the Scandinavian countries. The reason for this is found in the highly regulated labour markets and strict control migration regimes both internally and externally. The article addresses the ‘myth’ of the non-presence of irregular migration in Scandinavia. Firstly, we look at how irregular migration is framed academically; secondly, we analyze how irregular migration is conceptualized more broadly in the three countries, looking at the different political strategies relating to this conceptualization such as normalization, regularization and criminalization.

Charismatic female leadership and gender: Pia Kjærsgaard and the Danish People's Party

ABSTRACT Research on the leaderships and electorates of populist right-wing parties emphasizes that most of these parties are charismatic and male-dominated, both as regards their leaderships and their voters. However, while studies about the gender gap focus mainly on demand-side factors, such as electoral support, socio-economic characteristics and the voters’ attitudes towards issues such as immigration, those that analyse the role and position of gender issues are still rare. Similarly, or even more, overlooked is an analysis of the rhetoric, style, charisma and discourse of populist female leaders, such as those representative of two now well-established Scandinavian populist right-wing parties: the Dansk Folkeparti (DF, Danish People’s Party) and Norway’s Fremskrittspartiet (FrP, Progress Party). Both parties have long been led by women although Pia Kjærsgaard of the DF recently stepped down, leaving the party leadership to Kristian Thulesen Dahl, a man of the younger generation of party members; Siv Jensen in Norway smoothly followed the long-term and charismatic leadership of Carl I. Hagen in 2006. The main focus of the paper, however, is on Pia Kjærsgaard, discussing the role gender plays in relation to her style, rhetoric and/or discursive strategies, but also in the gendered constructions featured in the Danish mainstream media. In the article, Meret also refers to the case of Marine Le Pen and the Front national (FN) in order to consider whether the Nordic cases represent a specific framework for female leadership, highly influenced by context and opportunity.

Right-wing Populism in Denmark: People, Nation and Welfare in the Construction of the ‘Other’

Scholars suggest that the Danish and Scandinavian welfare and gender regimes have influenced the way populism has emerged, developed and consolidated in the past half century. It has been argued that Scandinavia developed a form of ‘welfare nationalism’, which since the late 1960s has linked national, social and democratic issues with social equality, democracy and gender equality in the construction of ‘national belonging and identity’. Mainstream political parties have since the 1990s been engaged in reframing the relation between national, democratic and social questions. This chapter suggests that the Danish understanding of the nation and the people has been re-interpreted by the populist right. The chapter presents the results of two case studies of contemporary rightwing populism: the Danish People’s Party (DPP, Dansk Folkeparti) and the Free Press Society (Trykkefrihedsselskabet) and focuses on the heritage, shifts and variations in the ideology of the populist right. The findings suggest that constructions of the nation, the people and the ‘other’ by radical right-wing populist actors are diverse: the DPP claims to address the problems and concerns of the ‘common man’—a native Dane—and aims to defend ‘the people’s’ interests against immigration and against the elites that are harming national sovereignty, culture and identity. This contrasts with the Free Press Society which has developed a rhetoric and discourse aimed at mobilising intellectual elites against the danger of Islam and framing itself as the defender of the universal value of free speech in the Western world. Finally, the chapter illustrates some of the counter-strategies to the ‘politics of fear’ fostered by the populist right by reference to interviews with victims’ organisations and democratic anti-bodies engaged in different strategies for the rights of migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and LGBT people. This allows for a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Danish approach to counter-strategies against hate speech, othering and racism.

We are still here and staying! Refugee-led mobilizations and their struggles for rights in Germany

The German chapter by Susi Meret and Walther Diener discusses collective mobilizations and resistance movements started by non-status refugees in Germany protesting stricter asylum and migration laws, the lack of basic freedoms and rights. The emergence and activities of these groups demonstrate the rise of politicization where refugees with(out) status are key actors building awareness about their marginalization and rightlessness. Germany is in this sense paradigmatic: Refugee-led mobilizations (e.g. Lampedusa in Hamburg, the Berlin Refugee Strike Movement) have taken place in several major cities particularly in 2012–2015. We argue that contemporary refugee struggles feature significant practices of political subjectivation, self-organization and empowerment that display similarities across Germany. This chapter focuses on the specific urban (activist) contexts of Hamburg and Berlin and on the ways mobilization strategies have been “transformed” by and with self-organized refugees.

Dilemmas of Citizenship and Evolving Civic Activism in Denmark

The Danish chapter by Birte Siim and Susi Meret explores dilemmas of citizenship by looking at the ways rightwing populism has been countered by mobilizations against exclusionary and discriminating Danish policies. The theoretical and methodological approach is inspired by scholarly literature reframing citizenship, democracy, and social movement theory to reflect critically upon the dilemmas of differentiated citizenship, civic activism, and participation in Danish politics and society. The analysis focuses on the goals, strategies, and motivations of diverse civil society associations, pro-migrant and refugee groups, and self-organized movements actively fighting against discrimination, racism, and othering. Key questions are: Who are the actors involved? What are their claims? What forms of activism do they practice? How do they cooperate? What are the perspectives of these movements and what are the results of their activities?