In late February 2022 in Vienna, experts, academics, representatives of religious communities and other civil organizations came together to a symposium entitled “Muslims and the Islamic Federations in Austria in Political Focus”. The event was considered timely in the light of a string of events that unfolded during the pandemic. In November of 2020, there…
In July of 2020, Austria’s minister for integration, Susanne Raab, announced the opening in Vienna of the Observatory for Political Islam (‘Dokumentationsstelle Politischer Islam’). The objectives of the new institution are “ to prevent p extremism” and to “ensure independence of science and research”1 in order to fight against “Political Islam”. Lorenzo Vidino, Director of…
Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor and leader of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has pulled off a remarkable political feat: having governed in a coalition with the far-right nationalists of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) since 2017, he has not only emerged unscathed from the rubble of his ÖVP-FPÖ government, which collapsed amidst a corruption scandal….
What is the meaning of the religious attire worn by some Muslim women? Are hijab and niqab hallmarks of the retrograde nature of Islam? Do they signal radicalisation and submission to male patriarchy – or self-determination and individual empowerment? These questions have been ceaselessly debated across Europe for years. In Germany, a new round of…
The recent burqa ban introduced in Denmark is the latest manifestation of a recurring pattern of burqa bans in Europe. These bans tend to end up backfiring, so will Denmark’s end up doing the same?
