Far-right political parties in Italy, France, and the UK are increasingly framing Islamophobia as a defence of Christianity, while left-wing parties and religious leaders struggle to counter it without stoking other forms of prejudice. This project examines how Islamophobic ideas become normalised across the political spectrum and how different actors—from Pope Francis to radical left factions—try to resist them. The research fills a gap: scholars have studied right-wing populist uses of Christianity, but not how Pope Francis explicitly fights Islamophobia. It also tackles the underexplored link between left-wing anti-racist discourse and latent antisemitism, a tension sharpened by the October 7 attacks. If successful, the findings could reshape how policymakers, NGOs, and faith-based organisations design anti-racist strategies. Two policy briefings for the Atlantic Council and the Italian Institute for International Political Studies will translate the academic work into practical guidance for public authorities and inter-religious dialogue groups. The project does not claim to solve Islamophobia, but it clarifies which anti-racist arguments work, which backfire, and why context matters across three countries.
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Much research has found that Islamophobia thrives among political parties of different ideologies. My project examines some underdeveloped aspects of the normalization of far-right Islamophobia and the attempts by religious and political actors to counter it through anti-racist discourse, covering three countries (UK, France, Italy) over a ten years period (2015-2024). I aim to write three articles. The first one explores how Italian far-right parties (Lega and Fratelli d’Italia) have increasingly justified Islamophobia in the name of protecting Christianity since 2015, driving a wedge with the Catholic Church. Through discourse analysis of priorly collected speeches, I will show that Italian far-right parties frame Christianity primarily as a European identity marker, rather than as global faith, whereas Pope Francis and other Italian bishops contest the rise of Christian-inspired nationalism in the West, arguing that Muslims are not threats but partners in inter-religious dialogue. While scholars have studied right-wing populist discourses on Christianity, a thorough investigation of Pope Francis’ fight against Islamophobia is lacking in the literature on religion and politics. My second article analyses how radical Left politicians tackle Islamophobia by using an anti-racist and anti-imperialist discourse. Through a comparative case study approach of left-wing factions in the British Labour Party and the French party La France Insoumise, I will trace similarities (e.g. opposition to war on terror) and differences (e.g. the relationship with state secularism) and critically analyse how their discourse against Islamophobia in the last two decades is linked to latent antisemitism and hostility against Israel. These two dimensions have been less explored by current scholarship but warrant further investigation after the October 7 terrorist attacks, which have raised debates on left-wing antisemitism. My third article examines through discourse analysis how far-right Islamophobic ideas spread among mainstream policymakers in Italy and France. It engages with recent scholarship on the “mainstreaming” of far-right nationalist and populist ideas and compares how the process has unfolded in Italy and France in 2012-2022 by looking at Fratelli d’Italia-Forza Italia on one side and Rassemblement National- Les Républicains on the other. I will show that this process depends on contextual historical, political, and cultural factors, which facilitate the legitimization or rejection of specific far-right ideas. I will also engage with non-academic audiences by writing two policy briefings for the think-tanks Atlantic Council and Italian Institute for International Political Studies, to disseminate my findings among wider audiences (public authorities, policymakers, NGOs, charities, faith-based organizations, and institutional stakeholders who work on inter-religious dialogue). Other planned activities during the Fellowship include: - attending two high-profile international conferences (European Academy of Religion; British International Studies Association) - planning a three-weeks research visit to the ‘Prince Alwaleed Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding’ at Georgetown University - organizing a one-day seminar (Religious discrimination and the global rise of populism and nationalism) that will be the starting point to write a journal’s special issue and a report for the Atlantic Council - joining the ‘Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative’ at Sussex, which has supported the development of the work on religious engagement and religious discrimination and hatred of Willton Park (FCDO) - undertaking further training within the Sussex Researcher School to improve my grant-writing skills and better understand the UK research funding environment and the REF2029.
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