This page provides the key documents, video and links in the Countering Islamophobic Narratives project (CIK) that was undertaken in 2017 – 2018.
Watch the research author Dr. iur. Matilda Chatzipanagiotou present their findings at the European Parliament in September 2018.
The author of research on Greece were Dr. iur. Matilda Chatzipanagiotou, LL.M and Mr Iason Zarikos.*
Workstream 1 looked at the Ten Dominant Narratives of Islamophobia in Greece, looking at the historical and contemporary roots of anti-Muslim thinking, policy and practice in the national context.
The aim of this study is to map and analyze the phenomenon of Islamophobia in contemporary Greece. We aim to reconstruct the most significant narratives regarding Muslims and Islam, categorizes them, indicates which narratives are most dominant in the Greek context, traces and explains similarities and differences between narratives of Islamophobia apropos the ideas, policies and attitudes towards Muslims they entail. The analysis is guided by the performative definition of Islamophobia proposed by Sayid (2014) and Domination Hate Model of Intercultural Relations (Islamic Human Rights Commission 2016), both putting anti-Muslim hatred in a wider context and providing tools for processing primary and discussing secondary sources to propose a categorical list of narratives of Islamophobia in Greece.
Download it here [35 pages].
Read a short commentary and summary on those findings [external link] – Traversing ideological boundaries: Islamophobia in Greece
Workstream 2 looked at the Ten Dominant Counter-Narratives of Islamophobia in Greece, based on interviews with practitioners, lawyers, academics, political actors, NGOs, journalists and others.
The historical background to the formation of counter-narratives in Greece as described above, should not obscure the fact that the society is not experienced or socially prepared to deal with phenomena of fear and hatred (L Papagiannakis 2017, personal communication, 22.08.2017), and was not ready to handle the recent refugee crisis. Greece lacks infrastructure, political organization and experience in dealing with xenophobia and racism.
Download it here [32 pages].
Workstream 3 is a summary report aimed at policymakers overviewing the findings and the actions needed to tackle Islamophobia. Download it here in English and here in Greek.
Return to the IHRC index.
* These reports were produced by a partner organisation in the Counter Islamophobia Toolkit project, not IHRC. All views expressed are the author’s own and cannot be attributed to IHRC or the European Commission.
