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Fear of Islam in Greece: migration, terrorism, and “ghosts” from the past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Alexandros Sakellariou
Alexandros Sakellariou*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece
*
*Email: sociology.panteion@gmail.com
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Abstract

The article explores the “fear of Islam” through a specific series of political debates about Islam and the future of the Greek-Orthodox national identity. The analysis is based on the method of qualitative content analysis, which makes use of thematic categories and draws on the proceedings of the Greek parliament. The main questions the article will try to address are: How have Greek political parties reacted to public demand for the construction of a mosque? What have been the rhetorical tropes they use? How have they capitalized on current and old fears about Islam? What have been the implications of this discourse on state policies toward Islam? Have there been any differences in this discourse over time? The analysis highlights the role of historical interpretations of Greek national identity and contemporary problems related to new waves of migration due to Greece's place on the border with Turkey and with the broader Islamic world.

Keywords

Greecenational identitypolitical discourseIslampolitics of fear
Type
Special Section: Localizing Islam: National paradigms, new actors, and contingent choices
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 45 , Issue 4 , July 2017 , pp. 511 - 523
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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