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Begin New Search Topic Nationalism Author Bridge Initiative Team

1. Factsheet: Vox Party

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The VOX Party is a far-right, nationalist political party in Spain that advocates discriminatory policies against Spanish Muslims and Muslim immigrants. VOX has achieved significant political success in regional and national elections since its 2013 founding, while building a political narrative that Spain must be “reconquered” from Muslims again—a reengineering of the centuries-old mythology of Reconquista. The party’s political messaging employs derogatory rhetoric against Muslims broadly and Muslim women in particular, while declaring a “civilizational clash” between Spain and Islam.
Topic:
Nationalism, Discrimination, Islamophobia, Far Right, and VOX Party
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

2. Factsheet: Reconquista Trope

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The historical myth of the Reconquista has been one of the most recurrent tropes used by far-right parties in Spain. The controversial concept—contested by many scholars— has been reappropriated, misinterpreted, and misused to build political bases and campaigns on anti-Muslim hate, conspiracy theories, and white nationalism in Spain and across Europe.
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Conspiracy Theory, and Reconquista
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

3. Factsheet: Identity and Democracy

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Identity and Democracy (ID) is the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament, representing thirteen far-right parties with heavy anti-Muslim agendas. It is the successor of the 2014 Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group and emerged after the 2019 European Parliament elections. ID’s policy platform focuses on increasing security, tackling illegal immigration, and creating economic growth, as well as making the EU less bureaucratic. The group is currently headed by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Italian League and the French National Rally. It has been able to connect nationalist far-right parties and overcome nationalist cleavages by emphasizing the common ‘Muslim enemy.’
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, and European Parliament
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Factsheet: Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest, VB) is a far-right political party in the Flemish region of Belgium which promotes Flemish nationalism and was founded in 1978. The party has promoted fears of immigrant invasions, a Muslim takeover of Europe, and the Islamization of Flemish society. Filip Dewinter, one of the leading members of VB, has used the party’s platform to advance anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. VB gained its first electoral successes in the late 1980s. Today, the party is represented in regional, national and European parliaments, and has transnational and international ties with other anti-Muslim and far-right movements and parties.
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Xenophobia, Political Parties, and Flemish
Political Geography:
Europe and Belgium