The east is just like the west, only more so: Islamophobia and populism in Eastern Germany and the East of the European Union

摘要

Islamophobia in Eastern Germany and in East Central Europe has very similar characteristics to Islamophobia in Western Europe and the USA. The difference, of degree rather than kind, is in the success of Islamophobia as a political instrument. This is somewhat more pronounced in the East of Germany and of the European Union as a whole. It is a mistake to attribute this difference mainly to the alleged authoritarian heritage of ?Eastern Europe?. Much of the postsocialist public as a whole has characteristics similar to specific populations in the West who have been shown to be particularly prone to Islamophobic populism. These include precariously employed white working and lower-middle-class workers and rural residents. What East and West have in common is that they have both felt the negative impact of neoliberal policies, which have weakened social safety nets and made jobs more precarious. That impact was stronger in the postsocialist East, including eastern Germany, and that goes a long way towards explaining the greater degree of Islamophobia there.