Radical right populist debates on female Muslim body-coverings in Austria. Between biopolitics and necropolitics

Bibliographic Data

ID7802149
AuthorsBirgit Sauer (0000-0003-4857-7696, University of Vienna, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume29
Issue4
Pages447-465
Publication date2022-07-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIdentities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1070-289X • E-ISSN: 1547-3384
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1070289x.2022.2071515
OpenAlexW4225386236
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited49

The Austrian Parliament has passed three laws since 2018 that prohibit wearing Muslim body-coverings in public. This departure from a formerly tolerant approach is an outcome of ongoing anti-Muslim campaigns by the radical-right populist Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). The party has been mobilising since the mid-1980s through the creation of two antagonisms: ‘the elite’ and second against ‘Others’ – mainly migrants. Since the turn of the century, this anti-migrant mobilisation has targeted the intersection of gender and religion by focusing on veiled Muslim women. Targeting this intersection of gender and religion, the article applies a critical frame analysis of 19 FPÖ documents from 2006 to 2020 on restrictive rulings about female Muslim body-covering. It finds that Austrian radical right populist campaigns emphasise the female body and construct the Austrian ‘people’ (biopolitics), while necropower constructs Muslim migrants as non-belonging, excludable, and erasable

Biopower · Construct (python library · Elite · Hindutva · Parliament · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public sphere · Sociology · Gender Studies · German legal, social, and political studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

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