Islamophobia in Western Europe is unrelated to religiosity but highly correlated with far right attitudes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7998323 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kai Arzheimer (0000-0001-9073-3205, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2053-1680 • E-ISSN: 2053-1680 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/20531680251351895 |
| OpenAlex | W4412152844 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 31 |
The far right’s relationship with religion has become a major focus of current research. Even in Western Europe, one of the most rapidly secularising areas of the world, far right actors claim to defend Christian values against the alleged threat of Islam and Muslim immigrants, a rhetorical strategy known as ‘Christianism’. Yet, little is known about how religiosity, Islamophobia, and populist far-right ideology are connected at the level of mass belief systems in Western Europe. Most of the literature is focused either on religiosity’s effect on voting or on the connection between religiosity and ethnic prejudice, without considering religiosity’s relationships with the wider spectrum of far-right ideology. The present article fills this gap by analysing survey data from Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It uses SEM to uncover the relationships between Christian religiosity on the one hand and Islamophobia and far-right attitudes on the other. The results are broadly similar across different contexts: religiosity is mostly unrelated to Islamophobia, nativism, right-wing authoritarianism, and populism. Conversely, Islamophobia overlaps considerably with both nativism and authoritarianism: people who perceive immigration as a threat and favour strict laws and harsh enforcement also tend to reject Islam, but not for religious reasons. This pattern is compatible with the strategy of Christianism, which is largely devoid of religiosity, yet facilitates the “othering” of Muslims as a cultural out-group. It also helps to explain why there is no genuine, electorally relevant religious far right in Western Europe
Far right · Islamophobia · Political science · Politics · Religiosity · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe
Is Europe Christian
Sacred and Secular
Liberal Illiberalism? The Reshaping of the Contemporary Populist Radical Right in Northern Europe
Is it racism? The belief in cultural superiority across Europe
When does religiosity matter for attitudes to immigration? The impact of economic insecurity and religious norms in Europe
Bad Samaritans
Revisiting Lepanto
Shifting borders
Personal religious orientation and prejudice
Relationships Between Religion and Intolerance Towards Muslims and Immigrants in Europe
Religiosity and Prejudice against Ethnic Minorities in Europe
The European extreme-right and Islam
Christian Religiosity and Voting for West European Radical Right Parties
Do religious voters support populist radical right parties? Opposite effects in Western and East-Central Europe
Between nationalism and civilizationism
Fear and Loathing
Differentiating Islamophobia
The rise of the post-religious right
A Religious Vaccination? How Christian Communities React to Right-Wing Populism in Germany, France and the US
Why do they vote for Le Pen
How Populist Are the People? Measuring Populist Attitudes in Voters
The Front National and Catholicism
Religion and the Radical Right in American Public Life
Instrumentally Inclusive
Civilizational Populism
Islamophobia' reconsidered
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |