How the fear of Muslim refugees and Islamophobia stole the Czech political agenda

Why does the Czech Republic rank as the EU country with the least positive attitudes towards Muslims and (presumed-to-be Muslim) refugees? Why has opposition to these two groups become central to the political programmes and communications of many of the country’s mainstream parties? Why do Czech respondents consider ‘terrorism’ as one of the most important issues facing the EU right now (more saliently than respondents from any other member state)?

Czechia’s Muslim population is estimated to represent less than 0.2% of the total and it is generally considered that the country is an unlikely destination for refugees from Muslim-majority regions. In addition, Czech society holds relatively liberal values towards other questions like same-sex marriage or abortion laws. These and other indicators could lead us to think that the Czech Republic should be an unlikely place in which to find a pronounced aversion towards Muslims.

In order to analyse some of these questions, I will share a collection of insights from the relevant literature and present a preliminary research design of my dissertation on the topic. I will also welcome feedback from the audience to feed into the future of this project, which will be conducted over the next two to three years.