Politika, Politológia | Tanulmányok, esszék » Alexandra Feddersen - Political Parties and the Framing of Muslims and Islam

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Source: http://www.doksinet                     Political  parties  and  the  framing  of  Muslims  and  Islam   An  analysis  of  the  United  Kingdom,  Germany,  Switzerland  and  the  Netherlands         Research  proposal  for  PhD  dissertation  in  political  science       Alexandra  Feddersen   Alexandra.Feddersen@unigech       Supervisors:   Prof.  Dr  Matteo  Gianni   Prof.  Dr  Pascal  Sciarini         University  of  Geneva  –  2014/05/13   Source: http://www.doksinet Introduction  and  research  questions   Since   the   late   1990s   and   especially   since   9/11,   Western   Europe’s   Muslim   minority   has   received   much   attention   in   the   media   and   in  

politics.   Repeatedly,   controversies   and   heated   debates   on   issues   as   diverse   as   terrorism,   Islamic   cemeteries,   minarets   and   headscarves   contributed   to   an   increasingly   negative   and   generalizing   discourse   on   Muslims   and   Islam   (Allen   2007).   The   public   media   discourse   on   Muslims   and   Islam   has   been   studied   from   a   macro   perspective,   comparing   the   impact   of   national   citizenship   models   on   salience   and   negativity   (e.g   Cinalli   and   Giugni   2013),   looking   at   topics   and   prejudices   that   are   raised   (e.g   Poole   and   Richardson   2006,   Parini,   et   al   2012),   or   analyzing   how   well   Muslim   actors  

are   represented   in   the   discourse   (e.g   Kortman   and   Rosenow-­‐Williams   2013,   Feddersen   and   Banfi   2014).   Surprisingly   little   has   yet   been   written  about  political  actors  taking  part  in  the  debate.  Until  now,  some  studies  focusing   on   anti-­‐immigration   rhetoric   of   populist   right   wing   parties   address   these   parties’   stance   on  Muslims  (e.g   Skenderovic  2006)  However,  the  raising  salience  and  negativity  of  the   public   discourse   on   Muslims   and   Islam   can   hardly   be   attributed   exclusively   to   populist   right   wing   parties.   In   a   recent   interview   published   by   a   major   Swiss   newspaper,   Tariq   Ramadan

 addressed  parties’  responsibility  in  shaping  the  ongoing  discourse  on  Muslims   and  Islam  in  Europe  saying  that  not  only  populist   right  wing  parties  were  to  blame  for  the   increasingly  negative  tone  against  this  minority  :  “[]  le  vrai  danger  de  ce  discours  n’est   pas  qu’il  reste  dans  les  partis  populistes,  c’est  qu’il  se  diffuse  dans  les  autres  partis”  (Le   Temps,   2013/11/05).   Indeed,   political   parties   contribute   to   the   public   debate   either   actively  by  launching  initiatives  and  propositions  or  passively,  since  they  are  constrained   to  take  a  stand  in  order  not  to  deceive  their  voters.   Scientific

  literature   on   party   competition   has   shown   that   parties’   strategic   emphasis   of   certain   issues   may   influence   how   much   importance   other   parties   attach   to   this   issue   (Meguid   2005,   Meguid   2008)   and   how   salient   some   issues   become   in   public   discourse   (Green-­‐Pedersen  and  Krogstrup  2008).  I  therefore  suggest  that  a  closer  look  at  all  political   parties’   positions   and   strategies   on   matters   regarding   Muslims   and   Islam   is   crucial.   Although  often  considered  as  closely  linked  to  the  immigration  debate,  the  discourse  on   the   Muslim   minority   is   not   identical   and   has   opened   a   new   area  

of   party   competition   since  many  issues  traditionally  cultivated  by  political  parties  are  tangent  to  this  problem     AF  –  Research  proposal  for  PhD  dissertation  in  political  science   2   Source: http://www.doksinet (Behloul  2013:30).  Questions  that  are  raised  on  the  Muslim  minority  and  on  Islam  lie  at   the   intersection   of   issues   as   diverse   as   immigration,   security,   religion,   national   identity   and  gender  relations.   In  my  dissertation,  I  would  therefore  like  to  address  the  following  questions:   (1)  How   much   importance   do   political   parties   attach   to   the   issues   regarding   the   Muslim   minority  and  Islam  in

 Western  European  countries  and  how  do  they  frame  them?  (2)  To   what  extent  do  parties’  emphasis  and   framings  influence  other  parties’  framing  strategies   and  the  overall  public  discourse  on  this  minority  in  a  given  country?   Case  selection  and  data   This   study   will   look   at   parties’   strategies   concerning   the   issues   regarding   Muslims   and   Islam  in  four  countries:  Switzerland,  the  Netherlands,  Germany  and  the  United  Kingdom.   The   comparison   of   these   four   countries   seems   relevant   for   practical   as   well   as   for   theoretical   reasons.   On   a   practical   level,   countries   were   all   part   of   the  

Eurislam   project   (Finding   a   Place   for   Islam   in   Europe:   Cultural   Interactions   between   Muslim   Immigrants   and  Receiving  Societies,  eurislam.com)  and  valuable  data  on  the  media  public   discourse   on  Muslims  and  Islam  in  these  countries  is  therefore  already  available  for  the  time  period   from   1999   to   2008.   Furthermore,   the   four   cases   were   selected   among   the   countries   covered   by   the   Eurislam   project   based   on   two   theoretical   criteria:   the   presence   or   absence  of  a  strong  populist  right  wing  party  and  the  national  citizenship  model  (Cinalli   and  Giugni  2013).   Relevance   In   view   of   the   lack   of

  systematic   comparative   literature   on   Western   European   parties’   emphasis  and   framing  of   issues  regarding  the  Muslim  minority,  I  consider  the  proposed   research  to  be  highly  relevant.  I  intend  to  conduct  this  study  with  several  goals  in  mind   Theoretical  contribution   On   a   theoretical   level,   this   study   intends   to   clarify   differences,   similitudes   and   interconnections   between   strands   of   scientific   literature   dealing   with   closely   related   topics  (party  issue  competition,  issue  ownership  and  niche  party  success)  in  order  to  put     AF  –  Research  proposal  for  PhD  dissertation  in  political  science   3   Source:

http://www.doksinet forward   a   theory   of   party   competition,   which   would   synthesize   previous   premises.   A   closer   look   at   earlier   findings   is   necessary   to   disentangle   the   causal   mechanisms   put   forward   by   the   authors   conducting   research   on   these   subjects:   Does   it   make   any   difference   how   issues   are   framed   or   is   issue   ownership   just   a   question   of   (relative)   salience?  Is  the  outcome  of  parties’  issue  competition  the  politicization  of  certain  issues   (e.g   Green-­‐Pedersen  and  Krogstrup  2008)  or  party  success  (eg  Bale  2003,  Schall  2004,   Van   Kersbergen   and   Krouwel   2008,   Van   Spanje   2010),   or

  both?   At   the   same   time,   formulating  a  synthesized  theory  would  allow  to  shed  some  light  on  questions  which  have   so   far   only   marginally   been   dealt   with,   e.g   new   policy   issues,   themes   encompassing   several  previously  owned  issues  and  possible  consequences  on  public  discourse.   Methodology   Apart   from   using   conventional   tools   to   analyze   quantitative   content   data,   I   intend   to   adopt   a   relatively   new   methodology   called   discourse   network   analysis.   This   method   analyzes  quantitative  content  data  with  social  network  tools  (Adam  2008,  Janning,  et  al.   2009).  To  apply  this  innovative  method  to  a  unique

 dataset  and  adapt  it  for  the  analysis  of   parties’   framing   strategies   and   issue   competition   could   be   very   rewarding.   Indeed,   research  based  on  issue  competition  and  ownership  theories  could  be  treated  in  a  more   efficient,  systematic  and  dynamic  way  going  beyond  frequency  and  time-­‐series-­‐analyses   (Feddersen  and  Banfi  2014).   Social  and  political  relevance   This  research  does  not  only  intend  to  fill  a  gap  in  scientific  literature,  it  also  falls  within  a   very   controversial   current   political   debate.   Indeed,   Western   Europe’s   Muslim   minority   and   Islam   have   repeatedly   been   in   the   media   spotlight.  

With   public   media   discourse   getting  increasingly  negative  and  generalizing,  the  question  of  possible  consequences  on   public  policy  and  opinion  rises.  Previous  research  has  shown  that  categories  and  frames   commonly   accepted   in   public   discourse   may   influence   both   attitudes   and   public   policy   (Poole  and  Richardson  2006,  Rigoni  2007,  Vatter  2011,  Gianni  and  Clavien  2012).         AF  –  Research  proposal  for  PhD  dissertation  in  political  science   4   Source: http://www.doksinet References   Adam,  Silke.    2008    "Medieninhalte  Aus  Der  Netzwerkperspektive  Neue  Erkenntnisse   Durch  Die  Kombination  Von  Inhalts-­‐  Und

 Netzwerkanalyse."    Publizistik  53:  180-­‐99   Allen,  Chris.    2007    "Islamophobia  and  Its  Consequences"    In  European  Islam  Challenges   for  Society  and  Public  Policy,  eds.    Samir  Amghar,  Amel  Boubekeur  and  Michael   Emerson.    Brussels:  Center  for  European  Policy  Studies    144-­‐67   Bale,  Tim.    2003    "Cinderella  and  Her  Ugly  Sisters:  The  Mainstream  and  Extreme  Right  in   Europes  Bipolarising  Party  Systems."    West  European  Politics  26:  67-­‐90   Behloul,  Samuel  M.    2013    "Introduction"    In  Debating  Islam  Negotiating  Religion,   Europe  and  the  Self,  eds.    Samuel  M  Behloul,  Susanne  Leuenberger

 and  Andreas   Tunger-­‐Zanetti.    Bielefeld:  transcript    11-­‐35   Cinalli,  Manlio,  and  Marco  Giugni.    2013    "Political  Opportunities,  Citizenship  Models  and   Political  Calim-­‐Making  over  Islam."    Ethnicities  13:  147-­‐64   Feddersen,  Alexandra,  and  Elisa  Banfi.    2014    "Do  They  Get  to  Say  Something?  Muslim   Ogranizations  Role  and  Importance  in  the  Public  Media  Discourse  on  Muslims  and   Islam  in  Europe."  Paper  presented  at  the  CES  General  Conference,  Washington  DC   Gianni,  Matteo,  and  Gaëtan  Clavien.    2012    "Representing  Gender,  Defining  Muslims?   Gender  and  Figures  of  Otherness  in  Public  Discourse  in

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