Policy Brief: Nativism, Islamophobism, and Islamism in the Age of Populism
Published on October 6, 2023.
This policy paper aims to address policy options, outcomes, and proposals related to radicalisation among European youths, with a focus on the historical juncture marked by the escalation of ethnocultural and religious tensions in the EU. Contrary to the scholarship that studies European youth in separate clusters divided by ethnicity, culture, and religion, such as “Muslim-origin” and “native”, we analyse Islamist and nativist radicalisations through a single scientific lens.
We acknowledge several alternative definitions of the concept of radicalisation. The most widely accepted way to define the concept is to focus on the likelihood of violence stemming from individuals. A noteworthy alternative definition of radicalisation is non-violent, emphasising the transformative power of ideologies in favour of a possibly progressive social and political change. The PRIME Youth project’s aim to decouple “radicalism” from “extremism” and “terrorism” aligns with this alternative definition. Combined with the prefix “co-“, radicalisation denotes increasing hostility between social groups in conflict. Based on fieldwork on the natives who support movements labelled as far-right and migrant-origin (i.e., Turkish-origin and Moroccan-origin) self-identified Muslims in Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium, this policy brief identifies various units of analysis and, accordingly, offers policies at five governmental levels.